Mr David Trimble's idea to hold a referendum on Irish unity on the same day as elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly next May is "zany and dangerous", the Taoiseach Mr Bertie Ahern said today.
The Ulster Unionist leader caused surprise when he said the people of Northern Ireland should have their say on whether to remove the border.
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Answering questions in the Dáil today, Mr Ahern said such a move would be welcome in the future, but to hold it next May would be a "disaster".
He said when the Belfast Agreement was negotiated in 1997 it was decided such a poll would take place when the Irish and British governments and pro-agreement parties saw general public support.
This would be in the "longer term and not the shorter term", not within the decade and especially not before a review of the Agreement, which would probably begin at the end of 2003, he said.
"To say that before you have the review of the Good Friday Agreement you would actually pull out the major clause and have a plebiscite makes no sense in my view," Mr Ahern said.
"I think that any basis of trying to have a vote before that would be entirely unhelpful to the process. It is a dangerous thing to be talking about, never mind thinking about doing."
He added: "To put that first vote in May 2003 with Assembly elections would be a disaster in my view. It is a zany proposal."
Mr Ahern made the comments in reply to a question from Fine Gael TD Mr Austin Currie, who said Mr Trimble's controversial comments calling the Republic "pathetic" and "sectarian" had distracted attention from the call for the referendum.
Mr Currie, a founder member the SDLP, asked: "Would the Taoiseach agree that, instead of something which would entirely polarise the Northern Ireland community, the emphasis should be on the bedding down of the Good Friday institutions?"
Mr Trimble said he believed a border poll next year would have the effect of settling the issue once and for all. The First Minster today reiterated his call on the British government to hold a referendum in conjunction with Assembly elections when he spoke to journalists at Westminster. At the meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council earlier this month Mr Trimble said: "It will kill the issue for a generation because I am quite sure that the result would be an overwhelming endorsement of the union."
Political commentators have added a border poll on the day of elections could also boost turnout for the UUP and carve out a position for Mr Trimble as a "defender of the union".
PA