Tánaiste Simon Harris has said politicians must be open to discussing what the future shape of a united Ireland might entail.
His comments came after Fine Gael’s presidential candidate Heather Humphreys suggested the possibility of keeping the Stormont Assembly as part of any unification plan, reports Breaking News.
Ms Humphreys said that individuals in Northern Ireland with a British identity had “nothing to fear” from constitutional change, pointing to her own background as a Presbyterian from Co Monaghan and a member of a “minority community” in the Republic.
Her remarks coincided with a gathering of senior political leaders from both Northern Ireland and the Republic for a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council in Dublin, reports Breaking News.
At a press conference following the meeting, questions were directed at Mr Harris, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly regarding Ms Humphreys’ proposal.
Mr Harris said: “I think what Heather was doing today was showing a sophisticated understanding of the fact that these conversations, when they need to happen, that they need to consider all of these things. And I’ve heard other politicians talk about these things as well. You know, you’ve got to be willing to talk about what a new Ireland would look like, and I think that’s what Heather was doing,” reports Breaking News.
He added: “But we also need to be very honest about what the role of the president is and what the role of the president isn’t. And the president of Ireland won’t decide when there is or isn’t a referendum – that’s a matter for the Secretary of State of the British Government, and the president of Ireland won’t decide government policy,” reports Breaking News.
Mr Harris continued: “But what the president of Ireland can do, and we’ve seen people do this very well – we’ve seen (former president) Mary McAleese do it extraordinarily well – is use their office, use their power, their soft power, to facilitate conversations, to bring people together, to promote reconciliation, to prompt and spark debates, to visit communities, to listen. And I, of course, believe that Heather is eminently and uniquely qualified to do that in the years ahead,” reports Breaking News.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin did not offer a direct opinion on the idea of retaining a devolved administration in the North as part of a unified Ireland.
He said his immediate objective was to foster reconciliation and connection among communities across the island, reports Breaking News.
Mr Martin explained: “Reconciliation involves a lot of hard work and, in my view, we should focus on connecting and reconciling people from different communities, different traditions, north and south, and creating a far more natural, seamless interaction between peoples. And that is easier said than done,| reports Breaking News.
He added: “My agenda is really how do we share the island together in a pragmatic and effective way that benefits people, the people who live on the island,” reports Breaking News.
Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s vice president, welcomed the growing discourse around Irish unity.
“I think that’s only a healthy thing,” she said. “I think more and more people are entering into the conversation,” reports Breaking News.
She added: “My call, I suppose, in terms of the Irish government’s role here, is that the planning needs to happen, the preparation needs to happen, and I really want to see that happen at pace. And I think that will be crucially important,” reports Breaking News.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP said there was no current movement towards constitutional change, reports Breaking News.
She said: “I think there are so many issues that we need to tackle, around health, around education, around growing our economy. I do believe that we better serve the people of Northern Ireland by focusing on those issues that really impact on them, day in and day out, week in and week out. That’s what I am about,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Little-Pengelly went on: “I don’t see any momentum towards the abolition of Northern Ireland. I don’t think any of the figures or the statistics play that out. I think that people are attempting to build that momentum. But I’m not going to be distracted by that. I’m going to focus on delivering for Northern Ireland and making Northern Ireland the very strongest it can be,” reports Breaking News.
The subject of Irish unity and how to include unionist perspectives was also debated by Ms Humphreys and independent presidential hopeful Catherine Connolly during an RTÉ Radio One election debate on Friday morning.
“You could be talking about devolved government in Northern Ireland as part of an overall Irish solution,” Ms Humphreys said when asked how a British identity would be reflected within a united Ireland. Those are all conversations that we have to have. And there’s no point in pre-empting anything before you go in, you talk to people. The first thing we have to do is build trust. If we don’t have trust, we have nothing. So we have to build trust. We have to deepen understanding. And I can see that very clearly – there’s still a lot of misunderstanding out there, so we have to deepen that understanding, build trust and work together, because I believe that we must unite people first, as John Hume (former SDLP leader) said, and that is so, so important. And I feel I’m very well placed to bring that conversation forward and to bring and work on it, to work towards a united Ireland,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Humphreys said that if elected, she would make sure the president’s residence at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin would be a “safe place for unionists to come and outline their concerns,” reports Breaking News.
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