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| Sinn Féin calls for vote on Irish reunification if UK backs Brexit | Sinn Féin calls for vote on Irish reunification if UK backs Brexit |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A vote on Irish reunification should be held if Britain votes to leave the EU, Martin McGuinness has said. | A vote on Irish reunification should be held if Britain votes to leave the EU, Martin McGuinness has said. |
| The Sinn Féin deputy first minister said Brexit would be against the wishes of the Irish people. “Such a negative development would represent a political and economic game-changer,” he added. | |
| The Democratic Unionists are the only large party in Northern Ireland to campaign for Brexit in the June referendum. Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists and the nationalist SDLP are campaigning to stay in the union. | The Democratic Unionists are the only large party in Northern Ireland to campaign for Brexit in the June referendum. Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists and the nationalist SDLP are campaigning to stay in the union. |
| McGuinness added: “Ireland’s place, north and south, is in Europe and leading change in Europe. If Britain votes to leave the European Union then that could have huge implications for the entire island of Ireland and, given all the predictions, would run counter to the democratic wishes of the Irish people. | McGuinness added: “Ireland’s place, north and south, is in Europe and leading change in Europe. If Britain votes to leave the European Union then that could have huge implications for the entire island of Ireland and, given all the predictions, would run counter to the democratic wishes of the Irish people. |
| “If there is a vote in Britain to leave the EU, there is a democratic imperative to provide Irish citizens with the right to vote in a border poll to end partition and retain a role in the EU.” | “If there is a vote in Britain to leave the EU, there is a democratic imperative to provide Irish citizens with the right to vote in a border poll to end partition and retain a role in the EU.” |
| He said the 1998 Good Friday agreement, which ended decades of the Troubles, provided for a border poll to be conducted. | |
| “I have proposed to Theresa Villiers [the Northern Ireland secretary] that, given the enormous significance of these issues, the British government now give a firm commitment to an immediate border poll in the event Britain votes to leave the European Union.” | “I have proposed to Theresa Villiers [the Northern Ireland secretary] that, given the enormous significance of these issues, the British government now give a firm commitment to an immediate border poll in the event Britain votes to leave the European Union.” |