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Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has said there needs to be a meeting of \u201chearts and minds\u201d before a Border poll can take place.<\/p>\nTaoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has said there needs to be a meeting of \u201chearts and minds\u201d before a Border poll can take place.<\/p>\n
The Fianna F\u00e1il leader also said that Belfast needs to \u201cget rid\u201d of its peace walls.<\/p>\n
Mr Martin told Newstalk FM\u2019s The Hard Shoulder that he never thought there would be peace in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Mr Martin was part of Bertie Ahern\u2019s government when the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy teenage years was bombs and bullets every day in the news, one atrocity after the other,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the Downing Street declaration happened it was magic to watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a politician at the time. To be even a TD was a privilege.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be a government minister when the Good Friday Agreement happened, these were incredibly big changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore changes will happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see new generations emerging on the island and in the North that will shape change in the North and shape attitudes and relationships for the better with the South.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Martin said there is a new \u201cmiddle ground\u201d emerging in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Asked about what lies ahead for Northern Ireland and Ireland and whether there might be a border poll or a united Ireland, Mr Martin said there needs to be a meeting of \u201chearts and minds\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s an ease of relationship. If we can get rid of the peace walls. We still have too many peace walls in Belfast,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get people more comfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot can happen in my lifetime but the exact precise nature of it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
A poll published earlier this week suggested that people in Northern Ireland would vote to remain in the UK if a referendum was called in the present day.<\/p>\n
Of those surveyed, 49 per cent said they would vote to stay in the UK while 43 per cent would support a united Ireland. The remainder were undecided.<\/p>\n
The Lucid Talk poll, which had a sample size of 2,845 and a 2.5 per cent margin of error, was conducted for BBC NI\u2019s Spotlight program.<\/p>\n