PATRICK Kielty believes a second referendum on EU membership is the only way Northern Ireland can avoid the "mess" caused by a potential hard Brexit.
Reiterating his claim that the UK's severance of ties with Brussels makes the prospect of a united Ireland greater, the Co Down-born television presenter argues that by allowing a no deal scenario the DUP will increase the likelihood of a border poll.
The 48-year-old Dundrum man, whose father was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1988, makes the case for a so-called people's vote in an extensive commentary piece in The Guardian.
Kielty claims the gathering momentum for a poll on Irish unity could have been abated if "the DUP had accepted that Northern Ireland was a special case" – as the party did when it advocated cutting corporation tax or resisting the liberalisation of the laws on abortion and same-sex marriage.
"But that was never on the cards because, for the DUP, Brexit is about proving they’re biologically British, not adopted," he writes.
"It means the party will always order what Johnson and Farage are having but, unlike them, actually eat it."
He criticises opposition to the EU's backstop, highlighting how Ireland has more than 300 land border crossings but "only five main ports" connecting the north with Britain.
"And, let’s face it, any customs check that can take place in the middle of the Irish Sea while a lorry driver hoovers a fry-up on the ferry then has a snooze in his bunk has to be a good thing," he writes.
He questions the wisdom of the DUP's support for Brexit and the Tories' allegiance to Northern Ireland.
Kielty believes that if Arlene Foster's party "jumps off the cliff with the ERG [European Research Group]" in a bid to prove its Britishness then the DUP "could actually end up the most Irish" by increasing the likelihood of a border poll.
But he says the DUP can escape its "worst nightmare" through a second referendum.
"They’ll scream red, white and blue murder if it happens but privately breathe a sigh of relief," he writes.
"Like Boris Johnson, they never wanted Brexit but wanted to be seen to support it."
A second referendum would also "save peace, prosperity and a shared future" in the north.
"It’s wrong that Northern Ireland should take one for the team so that others can have their version of Brexit," he writes.
"It’s now time to act, or Northern Ireland might decide the team is no longer worth playing for."
