Republic of Ireland star James McClean has argued that the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland has caused some people to rethink their view of a potential all-Ireland administration.
The Derry native wants a referendum on Irish unity for people to choose their own future.
It comes after Northern Ireland confirmed a further 487 cases of the deadly virus yesterday, with the death toll surpassing 900 as latest figures showed that hospitals have reached full capacity.
In a guest column commissioned by lobby group 'Think 32', McClean also said he wants everybody on the island of Ireland to have the same rights, and believes that the best way to achieve that is through unification.
He told Derry now: "To me, it simply doesn’t make sense to have two ‘national’ football teams on an island this size never mind two health systems, two education systems and two governments.
"As an Irish man and an Irish citizen, I want the island of Ireland to be reunified under a government for all our people.
"I don’t want to have any technicalities, caveats or doubts questioning my nationality.
"And I strongly believe that everyone who lives on this island should be entitled to the same rights as each other.
"The best way to achieve all of that is through the reunification of our island and the creation of a new all-Ireland administration that governs in the best interests of the people.
"I am certainly not alone in that belief.
"Every day, more and more people are coming to the same conclusion when they look at what is happening with Brexit, austerity and the handling of the pandemic.
"And at the end of the day, all we are asking for is the right to choose our own future through a referendum on Irish unity.
"That’s democracy and what has anyone got to be afraid of in that?
"I want my children to grow up in a better country than the one I and generations before me, grew up in.
"Surely that is what all parents want."
