When discussing the Garvaghy Road protests, Leo Varadkar explained how these factors need to be considered when talking about a United Ireland. 

It's one week since the Garvaghy Road protests started after the Parades Commission granted permission to the Orange Order to march down the street, with no end in sight.

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar joined Ciara Doherty on The Pat Kenny Show and while discussing the protests, he reminded listeners that these discussions would need to be ironed out ahead of talks of a United Ireland.

Mr Varadkar highlighted how the success of a United Ireland would be "judged on the treatment of the British minority" in Northern Ireland.

He explained: "If we have United Ireland, [which] I hope we do, whenever people want it north and south.

"There isn't a majority for it north. At the moment in the north, we'll have a significant national minority in our country, and we need to make sure that they feel that they belong and they're at home.

"That doesn't necessarily mean being able to march down every road you want to. It's not the same thing.

"And I can see other ways that we can make sure that people can assert their Britishness, retain their British passport identity, pass that down to their children.

"There's lots of things you can do, I think, that can say to people from a Protestant Unionist loyalist background that we want you to stay. This is your home.

"Throw your lot in with this state, just like the Southern Unionists did. That doesn't necessarily mean being able to march down a road where the people there don't want you to. So it's a complicated thing."

Talk of a United Ireland has been making headlines in the media as of late, with Donald Trump making comments about it and also Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Ciara Doherty posed the question of were these comments "naive" on how complicated the reality of a United Ireland would be, with Mr Varadkar disagreeing.

He shared: "No, I don't think it's naive at all. You know, people have different views on this. I've never been of the view that we should have a border poll anytime soon.

"I think really only Sinn Féin is the only party that's calling for a border poll this side of 2030.

"My view is you go, what's in the Good Friday Agreement? When it appears likely that it will pass, that's the time you have the border poll.

"We've never yet consistently seen opinion polls or elections in the North showing that there was a majority for unification.

"What I do say is we should prepare for it. You don't wait until there's a majority to see how things might work out. You plan and you scenario plan and you prepare ahead.

"And while the drift towards a majority is there, you know, younger people are for unification. I think that drift will turn into majority in due course. There's always a possibility that an external event might cause a change.

"Nothing in politics is inevitable. I think it's probable, but inevitable is not the same thing."