Sinn Fein is having its Ard Fheis (annual conference) in Killarney. On Friday night the opening address was delivered by Deputy First Minister

Martin McGuinness.

We publish the full text of the keynote address.

Partition created two conservative states on our island. The rights and

entitlements of ordinary citizens were secondary to the needs of the

political class in both states. That is why every Irish government,

since partition, including the present one, is happy to pay lip service

to a united Ireland and more importantly to the rights of citizens.

That is why it was acceptable to abandon nationalists in the north to

whims of a unionist regime and the reality of second class citizenship.

That was a political reality that I could never accept as normal.

Through forty years of struggle and our involvement in peace

negotiations we have managed to dismantle one party rule in the north

and brought second class citizenship to an end. We have replaced this

with equality, partnership and power sharing.

We have erased the physical nature of the border. We have constructed

all-Ireland political institutions.

But we have yet to achieve our primary political objective of

re-unification and sovereignty. That is the mighty task which we now

face.

And Irish unity is not simply a republican objective, it is I believe

necessary for our people, catholic, Protestant, Dissenter and others to

achieve our full potential.

There is a better way than the status quo. A re-united Ireland and a New

Republic built in the interests of citizens is the future.

There is massive potential for Republicans in the time ahead. We are in

an entirely new situation legislatively and constitutionally.

There are massive challenges in trying to provide good progressive

government in the north within the constraints we operate in and at the

same time giving hope for tens of thousands of Irish citizens in the

south living under the austerity regime created by the selfishness,

greed and incompetence of bankers, developers and politicians.

We have transformed Ireland in the course of the past decades.

Our role as the driving force at the heart of the peace process has

proven that where there is a desire and a will for change anything is

possible.

We have also transformed Irish republicanism, all Ireland Republicans in

government for the first time in 100 years working peacefully and

democratically for Irish freedom.

But our work as Republicans is far from done.

It is now time to move from the peace building phase of the struggle to

the nation building stage of the struggle.

That requires the very same confidence, strategic thinking and

determination that has marked our approach for many years.

This is not about trying to turn unionists into nationalists or to try

and hook wink people about our intentions.

The reality is that much hurt has been caused on all sides during the

conflict and indeed by the very imposition of partition itself.

To date much of the public running in this debate has been undertaken by

Republicans. It is however a mistake to think that many within the broad

unionist community are not thinking their way through the necessity for

reconciliation.

And I can report to this Ard Fheis that the process of National

Reconciliation and reconstruction has commenced.

In recent months senior party members under the direction of the party

Chairperson Declan Kearney have been involved in initial discussions

with a range of civic unionism and protestant churches. It is my firm

view that a foundation is being built slowly and steadily upon which we

will as a community jointly move forward.

Indeed one very significant group of people that have been engaged with

us over the past number of weeks have told us, and I quote:

“As a group of people from the Protestant and Unionist tradition we

welcome this initiative which we believe is a genuine invitation to

engage in dialogue. It will provide an opportunity to explore and seek

to understand the concepts, principles and language of the statements of

the National Chair of Sinn Féin and others. It will also provide the

opportunity for those from our community to try to help Sinn Féin

understand our concepts, principles and language. Further, we would wish

to encourage the representatives of Sinn Fein to continue in their

pursuit of this work with a wide range of political and community

interests, and to encourage others to engage. We would wish them to know

that we are keen to engage further on a range of issues as the

initiative develops.”

This very positive response represents a further crucial building block

on the road of peace and reconciliation.

It is my view, backed I believe by plenty of evidence, including the

lack of co-operation with the Saville, Barron and Smithwick Inquiries

that the British government is not interested in a process which would

deliver truth and reconciliation. This is in the main motivated by self

interest. Put simply it does not suit Britain’s own strategic interests

to face up to its role in Ireland.

However we cannot let the divisions fostered through the decades of

conflict and the British government stalling on the issue of the past to

hold back the potential that now exists to move forward politically and

democratically to a new Republic.

In that context, we have a responsibility to reach out to unionists and

to others to engage with them about the past and indeed even more

importantly about the future.

A united Ireland will succeed with the input of all sections of our

people. We seek an Ireland in which unionists would feel comfortable not

just in being a part of but being in the leadership of.

I have said many times that it is possible for unionists and republicans

to stand together without dilution of our beliefs. The Executive of

which I have jointly led with Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson for the

past five years is evidence of that.

I said in my Easter speech that in the discussions leading to

re-unification we need to be imaginative and generous towards unionists.

The ability to be generous to each other should be seen as a strength

not a weakness. Passport rights, symbols and other issues of identity

crucial to building a fully inclusive united Ireland respecting the

traditions of all our people in all their diversity can be addressed.

And we need to remember at all times that dialogue isn’t a one way

street. We also need to listen to what unionists say to us and indeed

about us. That is the role of nation builders. That means always

stretching ourselves and always taking risks to advance the task of

building a new Ireland.

Ireland as a nation can only truly prosper if we are at peace with

ourselves as a people. Having the confidence to build a new better

relationship with Britain will also be important. It means overcoming

the historic fracture between Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter. In the

Ireland of 2012 it means building a pluralist, ethnically and culturally

diverse society that embraces all our citizens.

In the year ahead I intend to deepen and expand my role to help lead the

process of national reconciliation in Ireland. A process which is

already underway. I hope to do this with your continuing support.

National reconciliation is a necessity for future constitutional change.

It is work that we as Republicans need to energetically embrace.

A peaceful and democratic path to a united Ireland is there. This party

is utterly determined to drive forward along that road.