The future status of the North of Ireland remains unclear as Britain gets ready to leave the EU next month. It will do that without a deal, the last attempt to secure an agreement having collapsed at Westminster. 
a couple of weeks ago. 

The BBC has reported that several senior Tory cabinet ministers now believe that a hard Brexit would lead to a vote on Irish unification within the Six County area.

Such a a 'border poll' is set out in the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement, but it requires explicit approval from the British government before it can take place.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald has said that it would be "grossly reckless and irresponsible" of the British government to allow Brexit to compromise the Irish peace process.

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Ms McDonald insisted that the backstop -- a previously agreed mechanism to prevent the remilitarisation of the border area -- was the "bottom line" and that Ireland must protect its national interest.

She added: "As the Brexit drama comes to a climax, we have to accept there is a possibility, if not a probability, of a hard Brexit crash and in those circumstances, we believe that the disruption and damage to the island of Ireland would be such that, don't imagine that we will philosophically take it on the chin.”

The Sinn Fein president said: “Put simply, if the border in Ireland cannot be mitigated, cannot be managed in the short term, well then you put the question democratically in the hands of the people and allow them to remove the border. The backstop is the bottom line. On the issue of the border poll, there's no point us burying our heads in the sand and wish away a hard Brexit. We prepare for the worst scenario and protect our national interest. One of the biggest symbols of success of the peace process is that people can travel unimpeded over the border."

Ms McDonald reiterated her challenge to the Dublin government to convene an Irish unity forum and said unionists have to start planning for "all eventualities".

Obviously, she added “our unionist brothers and sisters need to be part of planning a new Ireland, their first option, of course, is to maintain the union with Britain and we respect that, but as one ex-

leader of the DUP put it, they need to start now planning for all eventualities and unionism needs a Plan B."

Ms McDonald has said that the growing likelihood of a no-deal Brexit has pushed the idea of Irish reunification to the forefront of politics, but she believes mindset is the biggest stumbling block. "The Good Friday Agreement provides a route to remove the border once and for all. Regardless of Brexit, there will be a unity referendum. In our time we now have an opportunity denied to generations - a peaceful and democratic route to Irish unity; to build a new and united Ireland.”
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