SINN FÉIN LEADER Mary Lou McDonald has accused Micheál Martin of “running shy” on the issue of a United Ireland. 

In an interview with The Journal, the Sinn Féin leader said she didn’t believe the timeline for a United Ireland was slipping away due her party not going into government. 

“No, far from it. Obviously, the prospects of not just reunification and the referendums, but also correct preparation for them, would be far greater with Sinn Féin in government, there’s no doubt,” she said.

In the run up to the election, McDonald pledged to appoint a minister for reunification if her party successfully got into government. She also said she would call a referendum on reunification by 2030.

Sinn Féin’s decline hasn’t undermined the chances of Irish unity, she said, stating that this is the first election that she can recall whereby Irish unity has been mentioned in the manifestos of each of the parties.

Previously, she said it would only have been Sinn Féín that would be talking about it, she said. 

“So it has now gathered a momentum and a mainstreaming, that it’s an issue for all of us,” she said. 

The referendums are provided for in the Good Friday Agreement, she pointed out. 

“There will be referendums. It’s a question of when, and it’s a question of preparation for that,” she said, adding:

I think Martin is running shy on this issue. I don’t think he’s going to get away with that though.

“If he is to be Taoiseach, if he is to be back in government, the reality is that whoever is in government and leading the government, this is a live issue.

“We should not, under any circumstances, allow our society to sleep walk into referendums that we are not prepared for, fully prepared for,” said McDonald.

Sinn Féin has proposed a Citizens’ Assembly on a United Ireland be established.

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“What’s the problem with that?” she asked, stating that parties, such as Fianna Fáil, are not in favour for some reason. 

It is a “practical, common sense, preparatory step”, she said.

McDonald said her own party has been running events across the country, in the US and soon to be in Britain, where people from diverse backgrounds, such as loyalists, Protestants, members of the clergy, are invited to give their views.

“What’s really been striking over the last year 18 months or more is just the diversity of people, with different views, but they all want to come and talk about it. It’s happening. It’s happening,” she said.