WATCH: Liam Neeson thinks he will see united Ireland during his lifetime

Liam Neeson has said that he believes a united Ireland "will happen" during his lifetime. 

"I think it'll happen," Neeson told Beth Rigby on Sky News when asked if he could imagine the reunification of Ireland in his lifetime.

"I think Britain will be pleased," Neeson added, "I think it could happen, yeah.

He continued: "But, everybody has to be appeased.

"The Protestants in the North of Ireland have a strong voice. I hear them, I know where they're coming from. They have to be respected

"If there's going to be a united Ireland, their voice has to be heard, they have to be represented, if a united Ireland comes about."

@skynews #LiamNeeson tells #SkyNews’ Beth Rigby that he thinks #Ireland reunification may happen in his #lifetime ♬ original sound - Sky News

Neeson, who was brought up a Catholic in Co Antrim, also spoke about his early acting career, when he performed in Northern Irish theaters during the Troubles. 

"There were a couple of nights where the theatre would get a telephone call to be told there's a bomb, and we'd have to go out onto the street with the audience, and the soldiers came in and searched, and maybe an hour I say, okay, you can go back in again," Neeson told Rigby. 

"It was dangerous but I guess because of my age and because I loved what I was doing, I was just in a bubble." 

Neeson said he received a "rude awakening" on January 30, 1972, when British soldiers shot dead 13 unarmed marchers in Derry on Bloody Sunday. 

Neeson added that Bloody Sunday prompted him to "learn something about the history of my country."

He also described the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 as an "extraordinary achievement."

"There was just a feeling in the air, you know, of change - and change for good," Neeson said.