DUBLIN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Brexit provides an "opportunity of a lifetime" to unite the island of Ireland and transform the country, said an Irish political party leader here on Friday.
The remark was made by Mary Lou McDonald, leader of the Irish third largest political party Sinn Fein, while speaking at the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin, according to local media RTE.
The report quoted McDonald as saying that all traditions in Northern Ireland see Irish unity as the best way to re-enter the European Union (EU) and the EU could assist with Irish unit project by giving observer status to the members of the European Parliament from Northern Ireland.
It is not a question of if, but when a referendum on Irish unity will be held, she said in a speech entitled "Ireland and the EU after Brexit".
McDonald also reiterated her party's position that there "cannot and will not be a hard border on the island of Ireland" after Brexit.
The remarks were made by the Sinn Fein leader just hours before the official withdrawal of Britain from the EU, which is scheduled at 11 p.m. Irish time, or 12 p.m. central European time, Friday night.
Sinn Fein is a political party active both in Ireland and Britain's Northern Ireland.
The ultimate goal of Sinn Fein is to achieve the Irish unity, said McDonald when she was elected as the President of Sinn Fein in February 2018.
A recent poll published on Sunday showed that the support for Sinn Fein in Ireland had jumped up eight percentage points to 19 percent, which ranked in the third place among all the political parties in the country.
Ireland is going to have the general election on Feb. 8 and Sinn Fein is considered a strong competitor for the Irish two largest political parties, namely Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
