Mary Lou McDonald has defended a remark in which she said former taoiseach Leo Varadkar had discovered his “inner Shinner”.
Mr Varadkar, the former leader of Fine Gael, recently called for politicians in the Republic to back the establishment of a forum to set out plans for Irish unity.
In response, the Sinn Fein leader described the comments as welcome but belated, adding: “I’m glad that as he’s exited the position of taoiseach, that he’s found his inner Shinner and his appetite for reunification.”
SDLP politicians have described the comments as petty, with Stormont Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole posting on social media: “Sinn Fein does not own the aspiration to Irish unity and this kind of stuff is frankly pathetic and offensive.”
On Sunday, Ms McDonald described her comment as “simply a quip”.
Speaking on BBC’s Sunday Politics Northern Ireland, she added: “I imagine Leo would have enjoyed that, actually.
“Anybody listening to that would understand that when Leo was in office as Taoiseach, he didn’t adopt this position.
“I’m really pleased that he was and, of course, the issue of the future of our country belongs to all of us.”
Narrow Water Point and Warrenpoint Port including the Irish border (Liam McBurney/PA)
Ms McDonald said she hoped public discourse would always have room for levity, irony and “even a bit of fun between public figures”.
“Leo and I know each other very well and I imagine that he laughed when he heard that.”
Pressed on whether Alliance voters in Northern Ireland would have found the comments funny, Ms McDonald said: “I imagine that Alliance voters have a sense of humour too.
“Certainly, any of them that I have met at election counts and so on have been of really broad mind and open for conversation – and also to have a bit of craic.”
She dismissed criticism of the comment as “making a mountain out of a molehill”.
She said the conversation on unification will involve republicans, unionists and people “who fall somewhere in between”.
“This conversation and project belongs to all of us and along the way we’re going to challenge each other and come with our own ideas.
“We can also have, at times, moments of levity. We don’t have to have our sense of humour taken from the entire conversation.”