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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he would like to see a united Ireland in his lifetime.<\/p>\nTaoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he would like to see a united Ireland in his lifetime.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar was taking part in a phone-in show on radio station Today FM where listeners \u201ccould ask him anything\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked if he would like to see a united Ireland, he said: \u201cI would, but only in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement so that\u2019s only with the consent of the majority of people in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really important stuff and nobody should be forced into anything they don\u2019t want.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd also, I think, if we ever get to that point, we need to make sure that unionists in Northern Ireland and British people in Northern Ireland feel that a united Ireland is a warm place for them.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to have a repeat of what happened 100 years ago when a minority were left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was warned that loyalists in Northern Ireland will \u201cnot tolerate an economic united Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in vice president Michelle O\u2019Neill said on Tuesday that Brexit means the British and Irish Government needs to begin preparing for holding a border poll. Ms O\u2019Neill said the poll could take place within five years.<\/p>\n
Asked how he feels about the current Brexit impasse, Mr Varadkar said Britain leaving the EU is only stage one of the process, and compared the proceedings to a divorce.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is the sense that we will get a deal. They will ratify it and they will leave the European Union, but then the next thing starts, which is negotiating a new relationship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing at the moment is a kind of divorce. Members are deciding, making sure that the kids are looked after, deciding the financial settlement that type of thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next step then is, how do we get on with each other after divorce because we\u2019re still going to need to have a friendship of some sort.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it just moves on to the next phase, but the most important thing in the first phase was just to protect those really important things like making sure there wasn\u2019t the border between North and South and people\u2019s rights are protected and that people can still travel freely between Britain and Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said he has a good relationship with Mr Johnson.<\/p>\n
The pair had a \u201cprivate one-on-one meeting\u201d in Cheshire, England, earlier this month in a last-ditch effort to break the Brexit deadlock.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said: \u201cHe is the guy you see, like he is personable, he\u2019s intelligent, he\u2019s witty \u2013 he is very normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can talk to him about stuff, you know. Some politicians are really hard to talk to. He\u2019s a little bit eccentric, a little bit alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n