fine inside leader Mary Lou McDonald has called for “urgent” plans for a border poll on Irish unity.
She said “now is the time” to seize the opportunity to start a dialogue on the matter.
It comes after census figures showed there are more Catholics than Protestants Northern Ireland for the first time since the division of the island.
The Census The 2021 figures showed that 45.7% of the region’s population said they were or were raised Catholic.
“Now make no mistake,” she said. “Government can’t keep looking the other way – change is happening. And it’s up to all of us to seize the opportunity.
“A future of unity and progress is approaching and a new Ireland is on the horizon.”
record Dublin at the launch of Sinn Fein’s 2023 budget proposals, she said her party would make financial provisions for the establishment of a citizens’ assembly on Irish reunification.
“I believe this matter is urgent now,” she said.
“It is time for an inclusive conversation about the future of our country.
“And that’s a future that belongs to everyone who calls this island home.”
She said the government had so far bury its head in the sand.
“The conversation, the planning, the dialogue that needs to be inclusive has to start now,” she said.
She added that Sinn Fein believes the “best vehicle” to do this would be a citizens’ assembly.
She said it wouldn’t cost the state a lot of money financially, adding that what’s missing is the “political realism and the political ambition to seize this moment, so we’re making that call again”.
She described the Shared Island Unit as Taoiseach “Micheal Martin’s baby”, adding that it was “good enough, but it’s no substitute for what really needs to be done”.
“For those who have consistently told us, now is not the time, don’t rush over the fences, now is the time. Now is the time to talk, now is the time to share ideas, now is the time to plan.”
The Dublin-Central TD made the remarks on Friday after Irish Foreign Secretary Simon Coveney said the priority in Northern Ireland should be on restoring relations and not planning a border poll.
Coveney said there is a “major problem” with trust in the region and work needs to be done first to “fix” the protocol problem and ensure the Stormont settings are working.
Next year it will be 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement was concluded. Of course we have to plan for a possible change in the future and we have to respect different perspectives as to what that change might look like, but if we can’t build relationships it’s very hard to get there in a way that’s fully inclusive.
Asked about the census results, Mr Coveney said that no one involved in Northern Ireland politics who has seen “how things change was surprised by that census result”.
“For now, the priority should be to get the Good Friday Agreement institutions functioning again,” he said.
“Next year we will recognize 25 years ago that the Good Friday Agreement was concluded.
“Of course we have to plan for a possible change in the future and we have to respect different perspectives as to what that change might look like, but if we can’t build relationships it’s very hard to get there in a way that’s fully inclusive.” .”
“At the moment there is a huge problem with trust in Northern Ireland, between different political parties and between parties and the two governments.
“And those relationships need to be restored. And then of course we have to make plans for the future.”
However, Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty said the government and elected politicians have a responsibility to “recognize” that change is happening.
The Donegal TD said it is the responsibility of those in politics to plan for the future.
“There is an immediate responsibility on the DUP to get back into the Executive, to start delivering, but it’s a responsibility of all of us to recognize that change is happening, that we need to plan for that change and that means that the government is taking the lead on what that looks like,” he told RTE.
Ms McDonald previously said a referendum on a united Ireland could be held within the next five to 10 years.
Asked whether he believes a border poll is likely in the next 10 years, Mr Doherty claimed there is a “desire” for constitutional change.
“You see the trends that are going on there.
“More and more people are looking for change,” he added.