Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that the conditions for calling a border poll is “an issue that has to be discussed."
Martin was speaking to reporters during a Fianna Fáil think-in ahead of the return of the Dáil and which was held in Tullamore, County Offaly.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham was criticised last month during a visit to Belfast when he said a border poll was “off the table." It has led to a debate over what are the conditions for a poll on Irish reunification.
Mr. Martin said Mr. Burnham hadn’t said “anything different to previous British Prime Ministers."
“What’s important is that the Good Friday Agreement came about because of the British and Irish governments being anchors to that initiative, working with all the political parties, political traditions in the North and in the Republic, and so, in our view, the future has to be determined in that spirit and in that approach,” he said.
When asked by reporters what his own view was, Mr. Martin said unity “would be the best outcome” but didn’t want to put any dates on it.
“It’s about uniting Protestant, Catholic, the centre, in the concept of Wolfe Tone.”
He added: “We’re not going to be browbeaten in by various motions or calls for this or a call for that. I’ve been through the Good Friday agreement, and probably one of the few people in Leinster House that was actually in the government that signed off in the Good Friday Agreement.
“I do have an understanding of how political agreements come about, and they don’t come about by saying it’s our way or the highway or no-one’s way. So that’s what informs my approach.”
