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The Irish politician said her party would demand a border poll immediately in the event of a hard Brexit and will not take a no deal Brexit “on the chin”. Talks of a no deal Brexit have increased over the past week after the EU rejected attempts by Prime Minister Theresa May to reopen Brexit negotiations.

Don’t imagine that we will philosophically take it on the chin and just carry on regardless

Speaking on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Ms McDonald said: “From an Irish perspective as we watch now as the Brexit drama comes to a climax, we can only accept that there is a possibility, if not a probability, of a hard Brexit and a crash.

“And in those circumstances, we believe that the level of disruption and damage to the island of Ireland would be such that, don’t imagine that we will philosophically take it on the chin and just carry on regardless.

“We believe in those circumstances that we go back to the Good Friday Agreement and put simply ‘if the border in Ireland cannot be mitigated, if it cannot be managed in the short term then you put the question democratically in the hands of the people and allow them to actually remove the border.

“Bear in mind that people in the North of Ireland did not consent to Brexit. In fact, they voted to Remain.”