Northern Ireland’s largest Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein on Monday said it wanted a referendum on splitting from the United Kingdom “as soon as possible”, hours after Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon demanded a new independence vote. Sinn Fein has been regularly calling for a vote for Northern Ireland to leave the UK and unite with the Republic of Ireland since Britain voted to leave the European Union last June while most voters in Northern Ireland voted to remain.
Under a 1998 peace deal that ended 30 years of sectarian violence in the province, the British government can call a referendum if it appears likely a majority of those voting would seek to form part of a united Ireland.
But Northern Ireland’s Secretary of State James Brokenshire said in July last year that he did not believe the conditions for calling a referendum had been met.
Full Article: Sinn Fein wants vote on Northern Ireland leaving UK ‘as soon as possible’ | TODAYonline.