Ireland

The Sinn Féin leader also said the British government needs to start preparing itself for this constitutional change. Image: Niall Carson/PA SINN FÉIN LEADER Mary Lou McDonald has said she will be asking the European Union to support Irish reunification if she is part of the next government. Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight in Dublin, McDonald said, even before this election the country was heading towards a border poll. “You have Brexit, you have changing demographics, you have the fact that the unionist majority has been lost in the North over the last number of elections, so that is the direction of travel,” she said.  She said it was irresponsible for politicians not to “bury their heads in the sand” on this issue.Whoever now makes up the next government, ...

The three main parties in the 26 Counties have polled the same vote share of just over 22 per cent in today’s general election, according to an exit poll released as polling closed this evening.If borne out, the results will be a historic result for Sinn Féin, which will achieve by far its best outcome ever in a general election. The results of the poll are as follows: Fine Gael 22.4 per cent, Sinn Féin 22.3 per cent, Fianna Fáil 22.2 per cent, Green Party 7.9 per cent, Labour 4.6 per cent, the Social Democrats 3.4 per cent, Solidarity/People Before Profit/Rise/Socialist 2.8 per cent and independents/others 14.5 per cent. In another measure of the transformation, Sinn Féin won the votes of more than 30% of those aged under 24. While seat projections in this new scenario are d...