The president of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, met this Friday with the president of Sinn Féin and leader of the opposition in the Irish Parliament, Mary Lou McDonald, as part of an institutional visit to Ireland. Afterwards, both made a joint appearance, at which McDonald expressed her support for Aragonès's negotiation of a self-determination referendum and promised that, if her party governs Ireland, it will be prepared to recognize an independent Catalonia. "Of course there would be that recognition," said the Sinn Féin leader, adding that "I would expect it not only from Sinn Féin, but from any government in Dublin and from the entire international community." She also asserted that an independent Catalonia should be part of the European Union. "We are all Europeans," she said.
McDonald showed herself in favour of Catalonia's right to self-determination, but insisted on the need for an agreement with the Spanish government on how to carry out this consultation. "One way or the other, Catalans must be able to decide," she said. The Sinn Féin leader insisted that the most important thing must be to agree "how the Catalans" decide their future, but she assessed that a referendum would be the most "democratic, fair and sensible" way to maintain "social cohesion".
Aragonès says he will work "much harder" to reach a Clarity Agreement
Aragonès, for his part, expressed his gratitude to Sinn Féin for "the solidarity it has always shown" towards Catalonia and assured that he will work "much harder" to achieve a Clarity Agreement that sets out the conditions for a "recognized" referendum. "This task does not belong to a single person or a single political party, but to an entire country, it is important to offer major agreements". Asked about the situation of the president in exile, Carles Puigdemont, Aragonès expressed his "support" because of the legal situation he is facing. "I am sure he will be able to find justice in the European courts rather than in the Spanish court system," he added.
Aragonès and McDonald showed they were clearly on the same length after the meeting they held in Dublin and expressed their commitment to building a "fairer, greener and more feminist society". In the words of the Sinn Féin leader, "we discussed the multiple opportunities that all countries have and the plans for a better future for all citizens".
Tweet from the Sinn Féin youth wing after todays meeting between Pere Aragonès and Mary Lou McDonald. The words in Irish read: "Onward to freedom"
Catalan government meets with Conradh na Gaeilge
Before meeting with Sinn Féin, president Aragonès and the Catalan foreign minister, Meritxell Serret, attended a meeting with Conradh na Gaeilge, the leading organization for the defence and promotion of the Irish language, to exchange experiences. Irish has been an official language of the European Union for a year, a status that Catalan has not achieved. For this reason, the Catalan leaders wanted to know what about the Irish experience in this process and in "the task of promoting Gaelic". "We love our languages and we fight for them. We hope to work together," Serret said in a tweet.