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Staff Reporter, 4 Feb
Northern Ireland’s new First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said she
expects a vote on Irish unity to take place in the next decade.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said she did not want to speculate
on the comments by Ms O’Neill, who described it as the “decade of
opportunity”.
The Sinn Fein vice president became the first-ever nationalist to
assume the post of First Minister during a historic sitting of the
Stormont Assembly on Saturday, which has returned following two years
of political deadlock.
After the DUP announced last week that it would end its boycott of the
powersharing institutions, Sinn Finn leader Mary Lou McDonald said
Irish unity was now within “touching distance”.
Ms O’Neill echoed those sentiments during an interview on Sky News’
Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips show, where she said her election
as First Minister demonstrated the “change that is happening” on the
island of Ireland.
She said: “That is a good thing, it is a healthy thing, this change can
benefit us all.
“When Mary Lou McDonald talks that it is within touching distance, I
believe that we are in the decade of opportunity.
“I believe also equally that we can do two things at once; we can have
powersharing, we can make it stable, we can work together every day in
terms of public services while we also pursue our equally legitimate
aspirations.”
Asked if this meant there would be a unity referendum in the next
decade, Ms O’Neill said: “Yes. I believe we are in a decade of
opportunity and there are so many things that are changing.
“All the old norms, the nature of this estate, the fact that a
nationalist/republican was never supposed to be First Minister.
“This all speaks to that change.”
Ms Keegan told the programme it was “fantastic” to see Stormont back up
and running.
Asked about the unity comments, she said: “I don’t want to speculate on
that.
“What is actually fantastic is to see Stormont back up and running.
“It has been a long time and I know lots of people have been working
towards this day.
“That is where things that affect Northern Ireland will be discussed.
“So, it is right that they are there and it is right that the ministers
are now there and able to take big decisions.”
Mrs Keegan said she would not try and “second guess what will happen in
Northern Irish politics”.
Shadow digital minister Chris Bryant said a border poll in Northern
Ireland may “come at some point”.
He said: “You can never predict what is going to happen in the future
just because of what happened in the past but, yes, that (a border
poll) may come at some point, I don’t know.”
When asked whether there should be a poll, he said: “It is not for me
to decide what should happen in Northern Ireland. That’s for the people
of Northern Ireland.
“That is for the people of Northern Ireland to decide but, as I say, it
depends on how the politicians play their hands over the next few
years.”
Under the Good Friday Agreement, the power to call a border poll rests
with the Northern Ireland Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris.