Sinn Féin has launched an advertisement campaign on Irish unity which will be rolled out in a number of prominent US newspapers today.
The Friends of Sinn Féin organisation is looking to capitalise on Irish-American support for the reunification of Ireland.
The Irish Times reports that both The New York Times and the Washington Post will carry half-page ads titled: 'A United Ireland – Let the people have their say.'
Similar ads will run in Irish-American publications like the Irish Echo as the United States prepares to mark St Patrick's Day next week.
“The Good Friday [Belfast] Agreement provides for a referendum on Irish Unity. It is for the people to determine their future,” the ad states, calling on the Irish Government to “promote and plan for unity”.
“As Americans, we call upon our government and public representatives to urge the British government to set the date for the Unity Referendum.”
Irish-American groups
The Friends of Sinn Féin campaign is supported by other Irish-American groups including the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish American Unity Conference and the James Connolly Irish American Labor Coalition.
“With your support we can be the first generation of Americans to visit a free and united Ireland,” it adds.
The Irish Times reports that the campaign is the latest move by Sinn Féin and its Irish-American partners in a campaign to secure a 'once-in-a-generation' chance at an Irish unity referendum.
Brexit problems and constitutional questions over Northern Ireland have highlighted issues in the North in the United States.
The ad campaign comes one week before Taoiseach Micheál Martin will hold a bilateral virtual meeting with US President Joe Biden to mark St Patrick's Day.
Sinn Féin has repeatedly called on the Government to commit to a Border poll.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald welcomed the move from Irish-American groups to support a campaign for a poll on Irish reunification.
Good Friday Agreement
“Irish America has been central to the signing and safeguarding of the Good Friday Agreement,” Ms McDonald said, adding that the “central principle of the Agreement is the right of the people to determine their constitutional future. A unity referendum is the measure of that right and an essential commitment of the Agreement”.
Filings lodged with the US government showed Friends of Sinn Féin raised $295,000 (€262,000) up to April last year (in a six-month period).
The vast majority of this money was raised at an annual fundraising dinner, held every November.
