CAMPAIGNERS seeking a united Ireland can learn lessons from this week’s midterm elections in the US according to a Northern Irish politician.
Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said the Irish unity movement should use the outcome in the US, where the Democrats took control of the both the House of Representatives and the Senate an a landslide victory over President Donald Trump’s Republican party, to guide their campaign for a united Ireland.
“As the hard work continues to prepare for a New Ireland, there are many lessons we can learn from the recent US midterm elections,” Mr Eastwood, who is Chair of the New Ireland Commission, said.
“What we saw was a clear rejection of the politics of division and hate, with voters in their millions choosing hope, positivity and the chance of a better future over the worst excesses of the Trump regime,” he added.
The SDLP MP, who is a former leader of the political party, said a positive vision for the future must be “at the heart of the campaign for a New Ireland”.
“People in the US made choices based on the issues that really matter to them and their families,” he explained.
‘They did not allow fear or scaremongering to dominate the debate but instead backed politicians who made a positive case to make the US a fairer place to live and work, where people do not have to worry about how they will pay for healthcare, put food on the table or fuel in their cars.
He added: “That is the same message we need to grasp as part of our work to convince families across this island that their best future lies within a New Ireland.
“We cannot allow this conversation to be dominated by those who want to keep us entrenched in the past or by the politics of division.
“We must put forward a positive, optimistic and properly planned vision for the future, addressing people's concerns and showing how a New Ireland can deliver a better future for everyone.
“People must have the confidence to choose a New Ireland, sure in the knowledge it will be better than what came before.”
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See More: Midterm, Northern Ireland, US, Unity
