A referendum on Irish unity before the end of the decade is now just a short even money shot with BoyleSports following last week’s council elections in the North.
Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald is also 4/11 favorite to be next Taoiseach.
Sinn Féin is now the largest party in local government for the first time in the North after the republican party returned with a record 144 seats – 39 more than they won at the last council election in 2019.
BoyleSports has duly trimmed the odds on a border poll being held before 2030 into just even money from the 2/1 available before voters flocked to polling stations last Thursday.
A vote for constitutional change however remains an outside shot to pass before the decade is out at 5/2, with red-hot odds of 2/7 suggesting the status quo will be upheld even if a referendum goes ahead.
Mary Lou McDonald, who said she was “very pleased” with a “very strong showing” for her party, is odds-on favorite at 4/11 to be elected Taoiseach after the next Irish general election, while Sinn Féin is the hot favorite at 1/8 to win most seats following successive opinion polls rating the party as the most popular in the country.
Lawrence Lyons, spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “Punters are speculating in bigger numbers that a unity referendum will get the green light, and with gains both North and South of the border, Mary Lou McDonald is running away with the race to be the next Taoiseach.”
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