Dear Madam - The Sean MacDiarmada 1916 Society Fermanagh take to task Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Fein’s double-speak and misleading attempts to portray a Border Poll in the same context as an All-Ireland referendum.

Sinn Fein having signed up to the Good Friday Agreement have accepted British rule in Ireland, as such have no credible strategy to achieve Irish Unity and are left with no option but grandstanding attempts to promote an internal Six-County Border Poll, which denies the democratic rights of the people of Ireland.

The 1916 Societies believe the Irish people entire have the absolute and sovereign right to decide the future of our country, free from external impediment and interference. We have long promoted and continue to campaign for a 32-County All-Ireland Referendum on Irish Unity as set out in our ‘One Ireland One Vote’ initiative.

The proposed Six-County Border Poll, under Britain’s Northern Ireland Act 1998, permits the British Secretary of State (an English politician without a single vote in Ireland) to determine if and when a poll may be called, the wording of the poll and who qualifies to vote.

Even if this sectarian poll is passed the British Parliament retains the final say on whether or not the result will be endorsed by the UK government.

A Six-County Border Poll legitimises the very mechanisms invented by Britain to harness division and sectarianism by endorsing the Unionist Veto and accepting the artificial statelet that incubates and nurtures the sectarian dynamic in Irish politics.

Next year is the centenary of the Easter Rising and we call on all Irish citizens to join the campaign of the 1916 Societies.

We demand that a 32 County referendum on Irish Unity is called, we call for ‘One Ireland One Vote’, where all the people of Ireland are afforded their democratic right and their say on Irish Unity. Anything less is an infringement of our democratic rights and is out of sync with the republican position.

Kevin Martin Sean MacDiarmada 1916 Society Fermanagh