Northern Ireland’s new First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Fein descends the steps of Parliament in Stormont on February 3, 2024 Paul Faith
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The new head of government of Northern Ireland, Republican Michelle O’Neill, predicts a referendum on the unification of Ireland in the next 10 years, she declared in an interview on Sunday, the day after taking the reins of this British region.
After two years of political blockade, O’Neill, vice president of Sinn Féin, the former political arm of the paramilitary organization IRA (Irish Republican Army), became the first pro-unification leader to head the Northern Irish government.
In an interview broadcast on Sunday by Sky News, when asked if she predicted a referendum on the unification of the island in the next 10 years, O’Neill answered affirmatively.
“I think we’re in a decade of opportunity,” he said.
“There are so many things that change the old norm, the nature of the state, the fact that a nationalist republican would never have been prime minister,” continued O’Neill, 47.
“All this speaks of changes,” he concluded.
After his party’s victory in the May 2022 elections, O’Neill could not assume his duties because the unionists of the DUP party (pro-British), with whom it is established that they must share the institutions, boycotted the process.
For the British government, however, a referendum “has no realistic prospects”, according to the text of the agreement that allowed activities to resume in the Northern Irish Parliament. The future of Northern Ireland is “guaranteed for decades to come” within the United Kingdom, the pact reiterates.