BELFAST, September 19 (RIA Novosti) – The President of Sinn Féin, an Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, has called for a referendum in Northern Ireland that, if agreed, could lead to Ireland's reunification.
"It is time for the people who share this island to have a respectful and informed debate with regard to Irish Unity or continued partition," Gerry Adams, said in a Friday statement posted on Sinn Féin's website .
"The people here, like our Scottish cousins, should be provided the opportunity in a Border Poll to determine the constitutional position. That is democratic way forward," Adams added.
"The turnout in the referendum in Scotland demonstrated the power of engagement and democracy," Adams noted, saying that the Scots, who voted against secession from the United Kingdom in the September 18 referendum, "engaged in an informed and respectful debate and have made their choice."
"This decision demonstrates that the people are sovereign and that change is possible," Adams said. "The union is no longer fixed, it is in the ownership of the people," he concluded.
Ireland was separated into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament in 1921.
In 1922, Southern Ireland became the Irish Free State, which in turn became the independent Republic of Ireland in 1948.
Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.
