FOREIGN Affairs Minister Simon Coveney wants the issue of a united Ireland off the agenda for now — because of the divisiveness of Brexit.

His comments came as calls for reunification have become louder, with UK premier Theresa May even admitting it could happen if her EU withdrawal plan is rejected.

Referring to citizens in the North, she told MPs last month: "They do not want a return to a hard Border.

"If this House cares about preserving our union, it must listen to those people, as our union will only endure with their consent."

Sinn Fein is demanding a Border poll, while a recent survey showed that more than six out of ten in Northern Ireland want one inside ten years.

But Mr Coveney, who said he would like to see a united Ireland in his "political lifetime", cautioned: "We don’t really want a constitutional change and a debate around that to be part of the Brexit debate.

He said of Sinn Fein’s Border poll call: "It’s not helpful. It creates more tension on top of what is already very tense and divisive debate."

"It’s polarising and if you are trying to find a way forward that both sides can live with then polarising people into hardline positions in the middle of very difficult Brexit negotiations is not helpful.”

"It creates more tension on top of what is already very tense and divisive debate in Northern Ireland and Westminster.

"That issue is dealt with comprehensively under the Good Friday Agreement and under the principal of consent which we absolutely support.

"There is a need for the Irish Government and for nationalism to reach out to unionism in a more affective way than perhaps has been possible in recent years.

"We are all neighbours on this island and we have to learn to live together."