SINN FÉIN ADDRESSED British audiences today as Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill embarked on a UK media blitz following the return of the Stormont assembly.

Party leader McDonald told Kay Burley on Sky News that O’Neill becoming the first nationalist First Minister in the North is an indicator of a “profound change” that’s happening in Ireland.

The DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson had previously made fun of McDonald’s comments that a united Ireland was “in touching distance”, saying she “must have the longest arms in Ireland” .

Speaking this morning, McDonald said: “When I say unity is in touching distance, I mean it in historic terms. I don’t mean that it’s happening next week or next month,” she said.

McDonald envisages any referendums on Irish unity to take place before 2030.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Stormont this week to mark the return of a powersharing executive.

He said that from his meetings with Stormont leaders, “constitutional change” was not a priority and that they should focus on the “day-to-day” concerns of citizens of Northern Ireland instead.

The UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, dismissed assertions that a border poll was imminent, saying the conditions needed for a referendum have not yet been met.

In response to the reservations about republican ambitions, McDonald said unionists are entitled to their opinion, but “Irish people, north and south, will make that call without coercion or impediment”.

“For a moment, suspend your disbelief and see the positive outcomes that can come from [Irish unity].”

Part of achieving a united Ireland, she said, will be “consolidating our relationship with Britain as our next door neighbour and a good friend”.

‘Let’s be chilled about it’

Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, First Minister Michelle O’Neill stressed the importance of being respectful of differing identities within Ireland.

“I pride myself on being the Good Friday Agreement generation, someone who was gifted peace,” she said.

“One of the beauties of the Good Friday Agreement was that you could be British, Irish, both or none. And I think we have to be conscious and be respectful of each other in all of our debate.”

Those with opposite political aspirations should be able to have “mature conversations” about the future of the six counties.

“I think it’s important that I can say, ‘let’s be chilled about it’.

“I say ‘North of Ireland’, others say ‘Northern Ireland’. Let’s just give each other the space to become comfortable in however we might come at these things.”

In the latest Irish Times/Ipsos Behaviour and Attitudes poll, support for Sinn Féin was at its lowest in three years, casting doubt on how they’ll fare in the next general election.

28% of those polled said they’d vote for Sinn Féin, down from 34% in September.

However, the party is still eight percentage points ahead of Fianna Fáil (20), and nine ahead of Fine Gael (19).

With reporting by the Press Association