Micheal Martin says he has 'no regrets' after not…

Micheal Martin says he has 'no regrets' after not attending major conference on a united Ireland

Micheál Martin has said that he has “no regrets” he couldn’t attend a major conference on a united Ireland in Dublin yesterday.

The Taoiseach was instead at Fianna Fáil’s own Ard Fheis which took place in the RDS in Dublin, just over a mile away from the Ireland’s Future event in the 3Arena.

Mr. Martin said he had no interest in being “brow-beaten” into attending the large conference at the 3 Arena.

There were over 5,000 people at the sold-out gig in the 3 Arena, while 2,500 delegates registered for Fianna Fáil’s flagship conference in the RDS.

Ireland’s Future was organised by Senator Mary Black and featured speakers from 10 main political parties across the political divide, North and South, including five party leaders.

These included Fine Gael leader, Leo Varadkar, and Sinn Féin chief, Mary Lou McDonald, while Fianna Fáil was represented primarily by backbench TD, Jim O’Callaghan.

There were no unionist leaders or members of the Alliance Party present.

Mr. Varadkar was booed briefly during his short speech when he made reference to continued ties to Britain in a united Ireland.

He said: “We could continue to have North-South bodies and East-West co-operation.

“We could strengthen and deepen both these strands.”

But Mr. Varadkar made an impact on social media when he posted a picture of himself with the conference keynote speaker, actor James Nesbitt, in Insta stories on his Instagram account.

Ms. McDonald made a speech that was also short like Mr. Varadkar’s, but she received a standing ovation.

This indicated that there was a huge number of Sinn Féin members in the audience.

The highlight of the night was probably not political, however, with singer and musician Denise Chaila and Donal Lunny stealing the show.

Mr Martin was asked by the Sunday Mirror if he regretted being one of the only political leaders in the country not to be at Ireland’s Future forum.

He said: “Why would I have regrets?

“I mean, I’m fully self-confident, I’ve been involved in Northern Ireland all of my political life.

“I mean, it shouldn’t be a brow-beating exercise to say, you must be there.

“I have a view as well.

“I wish everybody the best of luck.

“I have no issue with discussing these issues, but I’ve just set forward my philosophy, the strategy I’ve led in government.”

Ms McDonald told the Ireland’s Future conference that a citizen’s assembly on Irish unity should be convened

She said: “The days of treading water are over.

“This is a time for leadership, a time for energy and action.

“It is time for the government to establish a Citizen’s Assembly on Irish Unity.