A retired Presbyterian minister and former friend of Martin McGuinness has urged unionists to stop putting their heads in the sand over the issue of a united Ireland.
Rev David Latimer said recent census figures, which show a Catholic majority, had shifted the balance in the north.
In recent months momentum has continued to build towards a border poll with the possibility of such a vote being openly discussed in nationalist circles.
Rev Latimer was speaking after a recent Irish Times poll suggested the majority of people in the north would currently vote against a united Ireland if there was a vote.
The poll revealed that just 27 percent of those questioned would back a united Ireland while 50 percent would support the status quo.
A total of 18 percent said they “don't know” how they would vote, with a further five percent said they would not vote.
Rev Latimer said there was a belief “republicans are running away with this, while unionists are running away from it”.
“I don't think we can behave like ostriches and put our heads in the sand and try and pretend this is not serious,” he told the Sunday Independent.
“The census figures would suggest to us the balance has shifted and when our forefathers brought together the six counties of Northern Ireland, I imagine they never ever envisaged the two traditions becoming almost equal in size."
