Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said the potential for communities to reconcile as part of the Belfast Agreement has not been fulfilled.
In an interview with the BBC, the Fianna Fáil leader declined to say whether he believed he would see a united Ireland in his lifetime, but said he had no doubt there would be “new political configurations” across the island.
Mr Martin said there needed to be a political focus on reconciliation.
“We didn’t really fulfil the potential of the Good Friday Agreement on reconciliation, full reconciliation between traditions and communities,” he said. “We’ve the hard, practical work of that to do yet.”
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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has previously said he believes he would see a united Ireland in his lifetime. However, he said on Friday he believes a Border poll on Irish unification is a “quite distant” prospect for the future, adding that the proposal would be likely be defeated now and would be “fraught with risk” in terms of creating division.
Unionists figures including DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris have said they do not foresee a united Ireland over the coming years.
[ United Ireland vote ‘quite distant’, says VaradkarOpens in new window ]
Asked if he believed he would see a united Ireland in his lifetime, Mr Martin said: “How long do you think I’m going to live?”
“Will it be in my lifetime? I heard that in the 1970s, I heard the taoiseach being asked that.”
Mr Martin said there would be “new political configurations” but that the focus should be on “unifying people”.
“I’m a republican, I’m of the Wolfe Tone tradition, which basically means uniting.”
Speaking about the ethos of the Irish revolutionary figure, Mr Martin said it involved the coming together “in his day Protestant, Catholic and dissenter; in the modern era, by the way, you can add a few more to that”.
“Irish-British people have defined themselves as Northern Irish, you have 20 per cent of the population in the Republic, not born on the island of Ireland, who are now residents, citizens and so on, like that.
“So the point I’m trying to make today is, it’s about reconciliation and unifying people.
“There will be new political configurations of that I have no doubt,” he said. “I can’t be precise on how all of that evolves, but the fundamental point is, nothing matters unless we reconcile.
“We do need to learn how to live together, how to share the space that we all call home.”
Northern Ireland Office minister Steve Baker told the 65th plenary of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly earlier this week that the Brexit referendum “probably should have been a super majority” of at least 60 per cent.
The Conservative MP, who was a strong advocate of Brexit, further stated that a “50 per cent plus one” majority would not be advisable for a vote on Irish unification”.
Mr Martin said Mr Baker was “not right” to suggest that a super majority should be necessary in a referendum for a united Ireland.
“The agreement is the agreement and it’s there, and I think ministers need to be careful in my view, in sort of talking in terms of supermajorities,” he said.
“You can rewrite agreements on the hoof. These are very fundamental constitutional agreements that were endorsed by the people of the island.
“It’s a very important point. You can’t just casually dismiss that.
“You can say well you need 60 per cent for this, or 70 per cent for that referendum – referendums are referendums.
He added: “I think what’s important is that we focus on the evolving situation, the restoration of the executive and the assembly.”
Mr Martin also said identity in Ireland was shifting on a number of fronts.
“Identity is evolving. It’s never a fixed thing,” he said. “We need to start focusing on practical things, working together.
“There’s a huge investment programme, the largest in the history of the Irish Government in terms of investment in Northern Ireland.
“It’s time for a positive, proactive, pragmatic approach to understanding how we share this space together. That’s what’s required.” - PA
