A UNITED Ireland is the only viable solution to the ongoing Brexit Irish border chaos, according to a leading figure in Sinn Fein.
Speaking on the same day UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to discuss the role of the “Irish backstop” in the UK’ s ongoing Brexit negotiations, Sinn Fein MEP Matt Carthy urged Ireland’s political leaders to consider a poll on the topic.
Mr Carthy told The Morning Star the threat of a potentially damaging no-deal Brexit meant it was time for all parties to take the idea of reunification seriously.
He singled out Mr Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin to face up to the inevitability of a referendum on the topic.
“For too long our government and some political parties, particularly Fianna Fail, have dismissed calls to engage in a process of planning for reunification,” he said.
“The real prospect now of a no-deal Brexit will expose that stance as nothing short of reckless irresponsibility.
“A united Ireland is a legitimate, eminently sensible political objective.
“It is fully in line with the Good Friday Agreement which explicitly provides for a referendum on the issue,” he added.
Mr Carthy’s comments echoed those of Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald las month.
“If Britain takes Northern Ireland out of the European Union against the wishes of the majority of people in Northern Ireland – takes away their European citizenship and undermines the Good Friday Agreement - in doing so, those questions [about reunification] will arise, whether we like it or not,” she said at the MacGill Summer School conference in the northwest of Ireland.
“The government has to begin planning for unity,” she added.
“The route back for the north into the EU is clear, Irish unity is the route back to the EU.”
