Irish unification bill blocked over 'similarities to failed 2014 referendum plan'

Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin refused to back the legislation that would set out the next steps towards a border poll (Image: Niall Carson)

THE Irish prime minister has said his government would refuse a Sinn Fein-led bill that would have mandated the production of a report into how the government could work towards unification, citing the SNP's unsuccessful 2014 independence campaign as a reason to block the legislation.

Micheal Martin, the prime minister of Ireland, said his party will oppose the bill because "it would do little to achieve its objective, and it will commit us to an approach that has failed repeatedly over the last hundred years".