Northern Ireland should hold a referendum on whether to leave the UK and become part of a united Ireland by 2030, the province's first minister has said.
In an interview with Sky News, due to be broadcast on February 1, Michelle O'Neill said it was an opportunity for the people of Northern Ireland to "take control of their own destiny". O'Neill was asked if she saw a so-called "border poll" on the issue as part of her term as first minister and said: "Yes, absolutely". She said her party, Sinn Féin, believed such a referendum should be held by 2030. Michelle O'Neill said that "Brexit was a massive act of economic self-harm, carried out against the will of the people". However, the Northern Ireland First Minister's words appear to contradict what Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin has said about the referendum. In September, he said there would be no vote before 2030.
Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly, a unionist, also appeared on Sky News to say that nationalist and republican movements in Northern Ireland had not increased their share of the vote since Westminster devolved power to Northern Ireland in 1998. She said there was no real momentum for the two parts of Ireland to unite.