The UK government has pushed back against US President Donald Trump's call for Irish unification, insisting that there is currently insufficient public support in Northern Ireland for a referendum on the territory's constitutional future.
According to Azer News, Trump said during his visit to Dublin on Saturday, September 12, that he would “love to see” Ireland unified and suggested that reunification was ultimately inevitable.
“I think it would be a great feather in everybody's cap if that happened,” Trump said alongside Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. “It's going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.”
The comments put Trump at odds with the UK government's position on a potential border poll in Northern Ireland.
Downing Street said Prime Minister Andy Burnham's position had not changed and that there was currently no majority public support for another referendum. “Until that changes, there will not be one,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and the legislation underpinning it, a referendum on Northern Ireland's constitutional status is to be called if the UK Secretary of State has grounds to believe that a majority would vote in favour of a united Ireland. The decision therefore rests with the British government rather than being triggered directly by the US or Irish governments.
Burnham said earlier this month that there was no current majority support for another referendum, effectively ruling out a border poll under present circumstances. His position was reiterated by Downing Street following Trump's remarks.
Trump acknowledged that the UK would have a role in any decision but nevertheless described Irish unification as a “fantastic” development.
The US president's intervention has already drawn criticism from unionist politicians in Northern Ireland, who argue that the territory's constitutional future should be determined by its own voters.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson said Northern Ireland's future would be decided by its people rather than by politicians in London, Dublin or Washington.
