Northern Ireland Prime Minister discusses referendum on unification within ten years

For its part, the British government “sees no realistic prospect” of such a referendum.

The new Northern Irish Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill spoke, on Sunday February 4, of a referendum on the unification of Ireland within the next ten years, during an interview broadcast the day after her historic accession to the head. of local government.

After two years of political paralysis, Michelle O’Neill, 47, became the first pro-unification politician to be appointed head of the Northern Irish government. “My election demonstrates the change that is happening on this island”she said on Sky News.

“Legitimate aspirations”

“We can have power sharing” between republicans and unionists committed to maintaining Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, “we can make it stable, we can work together every day in terms of public services, and also pursue legitimate aspirations”she said.

To the question of whether she “anticipated a referendum on the unification of the island within the next ten years”the vice-president of Sinn Fein, formerly the political face of the IRA (Irish Republican Army), responded in the affirmative.

“Yes. I believe we are in a decade of opportunity.”

Michelle O’Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

on Sky News

For its part, the British government “sees no realistic prospect” of such a referendum and believes that the future of Northern Ireland is “assured for decades to come” within the United Kingdom, in a document published this week.