Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill has welcomed comments by Stormont’s Justice Minister Naomi Long who has called for Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn to set out the criteria for when he would call a border poll.
"Given the conversation that's actually at play now, in terms of the constitutional question, I think she's right to call for that clarity," Ms O’Neill said.
The Sinn Féin Vice President added: "I've been making that case for some time, so I think it's another voice in what has become an increasingly louder conversation around constitutional change and defining what would be the criteria that actually would lead to that referendum."
On the Presidential Election, Ms O'Neill said Independent candidate Catherine Connolly’s values speak for themselves following recent comments from members of Labour and Green Party criticising her.
Watch: Michelle O'Neill welcomes the call from Naomi Long over criteria for a border poll
Ms Connolly has been endorsed by Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, the Green Party and the 100% Redress Party.
"The values that she stands for speak for themselves and the support that she’s enjoyed to this point, we want to see that continue."
Asked whether Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys, who comes from a Presbyterian background could be a unifying candidate, she said:
"I think what would be helpful would be that I, as an Irish citizen living in the North, would have the opportunity to vote for the President.
"The irony in all of this is, of course, that I could stand for election, but I cannot vote in that election," Ms O’Neill said.
She added: "I think that's the democratic deficit that needs to be resolved. I think I will work with whoever is in the Áras.
"They might be respectful of the office, but I think anybody that goes into the Áras, their role in terms of representing the Irish nation is going to be a crucially important one, particularly in this period that we're in, which I believe is the decade of opportunity, where the question will be put to the people around constitutional change."
Ms O’Neill was in Dublin to meet the Taoiseach Micheál Martin as they both addressed a global business conference attended by the all-island economic development agency InterTradeIreland, Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland.
The 28th TCI Global Conference, an all-island initiative, has attendees from 20 countries across the world to look at the perceived economic benefits of creating clusters or inter-connected companies to help deal with digitisation and disruption to that from disruptive forces.
Ms O'Neill said Northern Ireland was being forced out of the European Union without consent since Brexit after a report from the House of Lords Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee described the Windsor Framework was "impossible to navigate".
She added that Northern Ireland has now been set apart with dual market access, allowing businesses in the North to trade freely with both the EU and Britain, two of the world's largest markets, giving access to more than 500 million customers.
"The post-Brexit reality also means that there has to be special arrangements, that comes in the form of what is now the Windsor Framework.
"There are some issues that need to be resolved, but there just needs to be some pragmatism around ironing out the kinks that are there," Ms O’Neill said.
