A senior Fianna Fáil TD has said the Government needs to come up with a detailed plan for a united Ireland after claiming England "couldn't give a fiddlers" about the North.

Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly said the Government should follow the example of the Scottish government, which has published plans for what an independent Scotland would look like.

His comments are likely to put pressure on Fianna Fáil to come up with a policy on a united Ireland, with a long-awaited white paper on unity still unpublished by the party.

Mr Donnelly tweeted England "couldn't give a fiddlers" on the night of the UK election following the release of the exit poll that didn't include forecasts for Northern Ireland's seats at Westminster.

"The BBC's exit poll... 'Other' includes the 18 seats for Northern Ireland. Dear England...yee clearly couldn't give a fiddlers...we do...how about we have it back?" he wrote.

Mr Donnelly did not row back from the remarks when contacted by the Irish Independent.

He said there now needed to be detailed planning undertaken for unity.

"Detailed planning to look at further integration should be considered. Particularly in the context of Brexit and the obvious advantages to the people of Northern Ireland of closer integration with Ireland and the EU," he said.

"There is a highly detailed plan for Scottish independence. A similar exercise for Northern Ireland to Ireland and EU linkages makes sense."

Meanwhile, the Government has ruled out a discussion on a unity referendum, claiming it would "inflame sensitivities".

Business Minister Heather Humphreys told RTÉ's 'Morning Ireland': "This is not the time for that conversation, these things inflame sensitivities and we're already in a sensitive time."

Fianna Fáil did not respond when asked whether Mr Donnelly's comments were the party's position.

Irish Independent