Thousands of people due to attend Ireland's Future conference in Dublin with delegates to discuss planning for united Ireland
Irish Times journalist Justine McCarthy says the attendance of so many political big hitters gives the event "a stamp of plausibility and heralds a new chapter in what some see as the pre-poll climate".
"People who are involved in different aspects of society, engaged in this conversation in a very different way to anything that's happened before. It's unprecedented, really." He is legally bound to call one if "it appears likely" that a majority of people in Northern Ireland wish to leave the UK and join a united Ireland.
Organisers say they have sold thousands of tickets for the event but are not in a position to give an exact number. Former Irish Labour Party senator Máiría Cahill says discussions about unity risk alienating unionists.
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