THERE is "a desire" for Pope Francis to visit the north, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told the Dáil yesterday.
During a discussion about the pontiff's trip to the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in August, Ms McDonald said hopes had been raised that Pope Francis would cross the border, even though such a visit is not on his itinerary.
"Far be it for me to interfere in the business of the Holy See or Pope Francis and I think the point is well made that the separation between church and state is an essential part of any functioning and open democracy," she said.
She added: "I do want to reflect something that has been raised to me very strongly actually north of the border and that is a desire that the pope would visit Ireland in its totality".
Pope Francis's visit will be the first time a pontiff has visited Ireland in almost 40 years. During Pope John Paul II's visit in 1979 he did not cross the border following the IRA murder of Lord Mountbatten and the deaths of 18 British soldiers outside Warrenpoint, Co Down.
Ms McDonald noted that Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown had expressed hope the pontiff would visit the north.
"There has been some controversy on this matter and I'm not sure what if anything the government here can do to influence the thinking or the thought process of the pope in this regard," she said.
Earlier, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the pontiff's visit would be welcomed by many.
"While this is not a formal state visit, I do believe it's going to be a major event for Ireland with a high degree of public participation and a high international profile and I look forward to welcoming Pope Francis in August," he said.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin also welcomed the visit to Dublin.
"Hopefully he will visit other parts of the country but we should not presume to tell him what to do," he said.
