TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said “there won’t be a border poll before 2030″.
Sinn Féin continues to advocate for a border poll on Irish unity before 2030, but when asked about the prospect of it, the Taoiseach said “there’s more to be done” before an such poll could be held.
The Good Friday Agreement “has to fulfill its potential”, said Martin, who pointed out that the Legacy Agreement was only agreed with the British government last week.
“This British government is working with us in a practical, open, transparent way, and we have a framework now to deal with legacy once and for all. I hope Sinn Féin get on board with this, because this is an opportunity with this British government that may not arise again with a future British government, who knows,” he said.
Martin hit out at Sinn Féin stating that over the last decade the party has blown “hot and cold” on the border poll issue, stating that when they pushed for it Brexit, he felt it was “putting petrol on the fire”.
“They downgraded the border poll because they did their own opinion polls and focus groups, and they said it’s not traveling. And if you notice, during the assembly elections, like border poll receded in Sinn Féin’s language and recedes in different electoral cycles, and then once elections are over, they’re back on the border poll,” he said.
Sinn Féin has criticised the government “for not having a blueprint”, said Martin, who asked:
“Like, where’s Sinn Fein’s blueprint? Why is Sinn Fein always saying somebody else has to write the blueprint?”
“I do think the the it’s Assembly and the Executive have to work. Politicians in the North need to demonstrate the capacity to work together, and to me, the presidency, the whole issue of border, that’s an executive function of government, not of the president.
“So it’s a false electoral narrative that Sinn Féin are peddling, but it’s about unity… what the presidency can do is it can facilitate reconciliation and kind of facilitate connecting people together on the island and so on in different communities,” he added.
The Taoiseach said he didn’t like the word “border poll itself”, but said he does believe it “makes logical sense that we would have unity in the country and that we would unite the people of Ireland”.
“It does matter,” he said, adding that “Northern Ireland, demographically, is changing.”
“I think we have to deal with a lot of issues in the North,” he concluded.
