Sinn Féin call for referendum on Northern Ireland leaving the UK

"As soon as possible".

Yesterday, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that she will seek a second referendum on Scottish independence. She stated that the benefits of staying in the United Kingdom post-Brexit are "significantly more challenging" than they were at the time of the first referendum in September 2014. Now, Sinn Féin's new leader, Michelle O’Neill has said that Northern Ireland should hold a referendum on leaving the United Kingdom and joining the Republic of Ireland "as soon as possible". O'Neill, who replaced Martin McGuinness as leader in January, spoke of the challenges facing Northern Ireland in the wake of Brexit, saying it could be a disaster for the province, with the option of joining the Republic a way of negating the effects. “Brexit will be a disaster for the economy, and a disaster for the people of Ireland,” O’Neill told journalists on Monday, according to Reuters. “A referendum on Irish unity has to happen as soon a possible.” The proclamation comes on the back of a poll last weekend in The Sunday Times which revealed that Sinn Féin are now the second most popular party in the Republic of Ireland, after passing out Fine Gael. Fianna Fáil remain the most popular party in Ireland at the moment.