“When the Berlin Wall was coming down, there were smoke-filled rooms of different people, high levels of officials talking about the prospect of German reunification, but it was actually happening physically in real time, outside of those official circles,” Mary Lou McDonald said. “Politics can’t be behind the population in dealing with these issues, especially when the opportunity is so, so big.” In a packed room in Leinster House yesterday, the Sinn Féin leader was pitching her party’s Bill to start planning for a United Ireland. Looking beyond her own TDs and Senators, McDonald tried to appeal to the small number of Government TDs in attendance by assuring them that her party’s proposal was “not a Sinn Féin thing”. McDonald, minimising her own party, sought to remind Government TDs that supporting Irish unification is not a controversial or minority position in Leinster House. This is the one issue on which Sinn Féin tries to abandon its status as the party of permanent opposition. Fine Gael Minister Neale Richmond’s ears must have been burning yesterday as McDonald took multiple opportunities to praise both him and Fine Gael for supporting the theory at least that planning should begin for a United Ireland.Fianna Fáil was almost described exclusively by McDonald as “the Republican party”, in a charm offensive that sought to appeal to the base political instincts of her erstwhile rivals. The Bill would have committed the Government to drafting a Green Paper on Irish reunification within 18 months, with McDonald promising that she was open to changing that timeline if need be. After that, an all-island citizens’ assembly would be formed to tease out the social, cultural and political practicalities of what comes after a Border poll. In the second row, Fianna Fáil veteran Pat the Cope Gallagher listened carefully. He had a copy of the Bill in front of him, marked with his own handwritten notes.After McDonald specifically appealed to those beyond the Sinn Féin tradition to comment, Gallagher, speaking in a personal capacity, said he would be “anxious” that the Sinn Féin Bill would pass and that Government TDs would be offered a free vote on it. Gallagher clarified that he had been “loyal” to his party since he was elected in 1981, “and I’m hardly going to change now.”The Bill was “quite simple and straightforward”, he said. “So just to say that I’m doing my own bit, whether I’ve any influence or not. But it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll be voting with you, Mary Lou.”Ultimately, Sinn Féin’s pitch didn’t work. Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected the Bill, describing it as an empty gesture and claiming it would “recommit us to an approach which has failed repeatedly over the past 100 years”. Martin was critical of both the timeline proposed in the Bill, and what he had described as “a policy of ‘one more push’ and hoping for an unpopular government in London”.Sinn Féin had sought to use the now-quotidian erraticism of mainstream British politics as an argument for preparing for unification, arguing that the spectre of a Reform-led government could mean that a Border poll would come sooner than anyone had anticipated. Hours after its press conference ended, British politics proved its unpredictability with a new development that may have made the prospect of a Reform government more remote. Mark Paul reported on the fallout from Nigel Farage’s “hissy fit” resignation, which has triggered a byelection in Clacton that both Labour and the Conservatives have vowed to boycott. With neither of what were previously known as the two main parties fielding a candidate, a seething Farage is currently facing a straight contest between himself and the incredibly charming novelty candidate Count Binface. As Mark explains in a bonus edition of Inside Politics, this may well be the first of two byelections in Clacton this year if Farage wins back his seat only to ultimately lose it again if parliamentary investigators find against him. Farage is facing scrutiny for an undeclared £5 million “gift” from cryptocurrency entrepreneur Christopher Harborne and other donations from convicted fraudster George Cottrell. Farage, who described himself as being “angrier than I have ever been in my life” over what he claims is media intrusion against his family, is trying to pitch the byelection as a chance to give two fingers to the British establishment. Farage’s political survival will hinge on keeping himself distinct from that same “establishment,” while his common-sense-bloke-down-the-pub image is existentially threatened by the revelations that he enjoys lottery-winning style wealth gifted to him by his rich friends. Any other businessIn a quick rundown of other political news, the controversial proposed legislation known as the Occupied Territories Bill passed the Dáil last night. After conceding that the Bill will not be compliant with international law, given it will not include a ban on services, the Government is struggling to manage the perception that the Bill was watered down for political reasons amid fears of a US backlash. Elsewhere today, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll McNeill will unveil a new Women’s Health Action Plan today. Cormac McQuinn is reporting that it will include enhanced preventive healthcare and the “upscaling” of existing schemes for free contraception and menopause clinics. Jack Power and Conor Gallagher are reporting ahead of a vote today on how several of the European Parliament’s political groupings seem set to back a motion calling for a ban on exports of alumina to Russia, upping the pressure for sanctions targeting Aughinish Alumina. Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin used his speech in Strasbourg yesterday to say the Government is hoping to help Ukraine make “substantial, historic” progress on its bid to join the European Union in the coming years. Speaking to journalists during the same trip, the Taoisach also clarified that Ireland has “no immediate plans” to establish facilities in countries outside the EU to accommodate unsuccessful asylum seekers while deportation to their country of origin is arranged. Best ReadsOur front page story today is an investigation that reveals Irish authorities granted gambling licences to six companies at the heart of a global network of black-market betting and casino websites. Inside, you can find a long read on the web of illicit gambling websites and the Irish betting licences that helped them target gambling addicts worldwide. Miriam Lord has a dispatch from yesterday’s Leader’s Questions, taken by Jack Chambers of Commerce and meekly attended by Ministers and TDs And as Órla Ryan writes for us about how the Government wants to avoid the cost of the long-delayed MetroLink project rising sharply in the same way the bill for the national children’s hospital has, Michael McDowell is asking today if the entire project is turning into a financial runaway train? Playbook Dáil 09:00 Topical Issues10:00 Private Members’ Business (Social Democrats): Motion re A Place Called Home for Adults with an Intellectual Disability12:00 Leaders’ Questions 12:34 Other Members’ Questions12:42 Questions on Policy or Legislation13:12 Bills for Introduction: Adult Safeguarding Strategy Bill 2026 — First Stage13:17 Government Business: Statements Post European Council Meeting of 18th June, pursuant to Standing Order 13315:16 SOS16:16 Government Business: Postal and Telecommunications Services (Amendment) Bill 2026 — Committee and remaining Stages17:16 Government Business: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025 — Amendments from the Seanad18:16 Government Business: Finance Bill 2026 — Recommendations from the Seanad19:16 Government Business: Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 — Report and Final Stages21:16 Government Business: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026 — Committee and remaining Stages23:16 Deferred Divisions00:01 Dáil adjournsSeanad 10:30 Commencement Matters11:30 Order of Business12:15 SOS12:45 Government Business- Insurance (Disregard of Certain Medical History and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 — Committee and remaining Stages- National Treasury Management Agency (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 — Committee and remaining Stages14:00 Government Business: Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026 — Committee and remaining Stages16:00 Government Business: Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026 — Second Stage18:30 Private Members’ Business: Protection of Children (Online Age Verification) Bill 2026 — Second Stage20:30 Seanad adjourns