Former Sinn Fein leader Adams in plea for united Ireland referendum
FORMER SINN Fein leader Gerry Adams has made a fresh call for a referendum on a united Ireland.
The call comes just weeks after Irish Premier Leo Varakdar said such a poll would be “divisive” and a “bad idea”.
Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, a referendum can be called if the Secretary of State believes a majority of people in Northern Ireland no longer want to remain part of the United Kingdom.
Former DUP leader Peter Robinson suggested in June that holding fixed generational polls on Irish unification was a way to stabilise politics in Northern Ireland.
However, the ex-First Minister said he felt very confident that citizens would choose to stay within the UK. A recent opinion poll, conducted for former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Ashcroft, found that a majority of voters in Northern Ireland believe that the UK’s vote to leave the EU had made unification with the Republic more likely in the foreseeable future.
It found a majority of just five points in Northern Ireland for staying in the UK, with 49 per cent saying they would vote for the Union and 44 per cent for Irish unification if a referendum was held now.
Speaking yesterday at an annual republican commemoration in Mullaghban, Co Armagh, Mr Adams renewed his party’s call for a referendum to be called.
The commemoration was for a number of republicans killed during the Troubles.
A stone was also unveiled in honour of former deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who officially opened the memorial garden in 2010. Mr Adams condemned the DUP for their supply and confidence deal with the Conservative Party.