People Before Profit are a 32 county party with a vision for a Socialist Ireland. The threat of a hard border brought about by a Tory Brexit has reanimated the question of the border and partition. We believe that people, North and South, have a right to decide the future of the border and of Ireland as a whole.

A Border Poll by simultaneous votes North and South of the border should be held to determine the future of this island.

But a border poll is not enough. Historically, partition cemented the domination of the Catholic Church in the South and a repressive sectarian state in the North – giving rise to what James Connolly correctly predicted would be a “carnival of reaction”. Today, partition remains as a barrier to progress, with an institutionalised sectarianism embodied in the post-conflict Northern state.

Successive governments in the North and South have been corrupt, cruel servants of the rich and powerful. The fight for equal marriage for LGBT people and a woman’s right to choose has been fought across the border. The 32 county struggle for human rights provides a very different vision of Ireland than that cast by the political establishment – these struggles provide a vision for what a United Ireland could be.

A vote for Irish Unity is not just a vote to join the existing Northern and Southern states – it would be a vote cast in the hope of a new and better Ireland. People should play an active role in creating their destiny in a United Ireland through a series of citizens assemblies and a constituent assembly to draw up a new constitution enshrining rights and dignity for all.