Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald are in RTÉ studios for a United Ireland debate on Claire Byrne Live this evening.
Ms McDonald argued it is “reckless” for the Government not to be preparing for a united Ireland already.
She said: “I think at this stage it is reckless not to prepare. This conversation is under way, not only in nationalism and republicanism but in unionism too. Peter Robinson, a former leader of the DUP, coined the phrase 'referendum denier'.
“We can't be deniers of the change that's around us and more than that we need to appreciate that there is a big opportunity for change here.”
Shared Island
When Ms Byrne asked whether the Shared Island initiative was preparing, Ms McDonald replied: “That is an initiative that is about dialogue and conversations, all of which is great stuff, and we will back that to the hilt that's good as far as it goes. That does not bore into and get under the bonnet of the profound systemic changes that need to happen.”
Mr Varadkar said it was too early to think about a date for any Border poll.
“The tectonic plates of Irish politics have changed, and this conversation has now begun. The Good Friday Agreement provides for a referendum North and South on reunification.
“It's a legitimate political objective and aspiration to want that. I think the mistake would be setting a date now, it's almost like setting a date for your marriage before you've been engaged.”
When Ms Byrne asked if 2028 was too soon, Mr Varadkar replied: “You do three things first: make the Good Friday Agreement work the way it's not now, engage with unionists and talk about what we're willing to change to accommodate the million people in Ireland who are British. It might not be too soon, but it's not the date we should focus on it's getting those three pieces into place."
