Trump says he would “love” to see Ireland unify with Northern Ireland
U.S. President Donald Trump said in Dublin that he would welcome Irish unity, despite the British government ruling out a referendum.
Dublin, Ireland. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would “love” to see Ireland unify with British-run Northern Ireland, comments likely to be unwelcome in London and among unionists in Northern Ireland.
Trump made the remarks during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on a 48-hour visit to Ireland.
Comments on Irish unity
“Well, I don’t want to cause any problems, but I will tell you, I’d love to see it unified,” Trump told reporters while seated next to Martin after their meeting in Dublin.
“It’s going to happen eventually … I think it would be a fantastic thing,” he said.
“Now the UK will have something to say about it … but I think it would be a great thing,” Trump added.
Referendum rules
Trump’s comments came weeks after new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said a referendum on Northern Ireland leaving the United Kingdom was “off the table”.
Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, a referendum on Northern Ireland leaving the UK can be held only at the discretion of the British government. The agreement ended three decades of violence between Irish nationalists seeking a united Ireland and unionists who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK.
Polls show a comfortable majority in Northern Ireland supports remaining in the UK, although the gap has narrowed slightly since Britain’s departure from the European Union put unity higher on the political agenda.
Visit and planned protests
Trump is making the 48-hour trip as his Republican Party campaigns to retain its majorities in both chambers of the U.S. Congress. He is due to attend a golf tournament at one of his resorts later on Saturday.
He also met Irish President Catherine Connolly, who was elected head of state last year. During Trump’s previous visit to Ireland as president in 2019, Connolly, an outspoken politician with far-left foreign policy views, protested outside Shannon Airport in western Ireland.
Some supporters had urged Connolly to speak out against U.S. military actions around the world and defend Ireland’s neutrality.
Anti-war and anti-Trump protests are planned in Dublin later on Saturday and in western Ireland near the Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg. One protester held a Palestine flag over a fence near the Irish president’s residence.
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