It is four and half years since the vote on Brexit in the UK and we are a year into this Covid-19 crisis. Both crises have demonstrated the folly of partition and its huge impact on our island. In the last week, an opinion poll published by The Sunday Times has demonstrated that a majority of the people of the North are in favour of a referendum on Irish unity within the next five years. Will the Tánaiste's Government now bring in a White Paper on Irish unity, establish an Oireachtas all-Ireland committee on Irish unity, lay in place plans for Irish unity and set a date for a referendum on Irish unity?

I saw that opinion poll. If we exclude those undecided, the opinion poll indicates that a majority of people in Northern Ireland are in favour of holding a Border poll. It also shows that a majority of people in Northern Ireland, excluding those undecided, would vote to stay in the Union. People are therefore in favour of a Border poll for different reasons, some because they want a united Ireland and others because they want to demonstrate that the majority of people in Northern Ireland do not want a united Ireland. That is what the poll shows.

The aspiration for a united Ireland is a legitimate one, and it is one I share, but the settled position for Ireland is the Good Friday Agreement and that states that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland can or will cause a referendum to take place when it appears that a majority of people in Northern Ireland would vote for a united Ireland. It is fair to say that we are not currently at that point. What we need to do in the meantime is to make the Good Friday Agreement work, to try to get the Northern Ireland Executive working better and to intensify North-South co-operation and east-west co-operation.