Simon Harris, the Irish premier, has stated that a united Ireland is “entirely possible” within his lifetime.
The Taoiseach made the remarks during an interview with Sky News on Sunday, where he was questioned about migration, US President-elect Donald Trump, and the possibility of another economic downturn.
Mr Harris has previously stated that Irish unity is not a priority for his premiership, and that peace on the island of Ireland is “frosty”.
When asked if he expected to see a united Ireland in his lifetime, he told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “It’s entirely possible, but I’m not yet ready to set deadlines on these things because I believe that doing so drives people further apart rather than closer together.”
Former Taoiseach and ex-Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar urged election candidates in September to make unification a “objective” rather than an aspiration.
There is much work to be done, but you unite people not by arbitrary dates or poll deadlines, but by winning hearts and minds.
Taoiseach Simon Harris
Mr Varadkar also proposed a two-stage vote on Irish unity, with an initial vote to determine whether people on both sides of the border agree “in principle” with constitutional change, followed by a final “confirmatory” ballot once the new political entity’s structures and constitution were designed and presented to the public.
Mr Harris, who took over as Taoiseach after Mr Varadkar resigned in the spring, said on Sunday that he and his party want a united Ireland.
“But I also want to be honest with the Irish people, and with the people of the United Kingdom. My top priority right now is to fulfill and maximize the potential of the Good Friday Agreement, which has seen far too many stops and starts.
“We now have the institutions back up and running in Northern Ireland , we have an interlocutor in Downing Street in Prime Minister Starmer and, I would believe an interlocutor in Government Buildings in Dublin, all three wanting to work together to make sure that not just the peace part of the Good Friday Agreement – vital as it is – is secured, but also the prosperity agenda.”
He stated that he and Sir Keir Starmer had worked “intensively” to reestablish Anglo-Irish relations, and that an annual Irish-UK summit has been planned at which ministers will agree on a joint agenda.
Mr Harris also stated that he was committed to keeping the Shared Island Unit within the Department of the Taoiseach.
“There is much work to do, but you unite people not by arbitrary dates or deadlines for polls, you unite people by winning hearts and minds.”
Campaigning efforts are ramping up across 43 constituencies ahead of the election on Friday, November 29.
A Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll shows Fine Gael down four points to 22%, Sinn Fein up two points to 20%, and Fianna Fail steady at 20%.
Aontu is up two points to 5%, the Social Democrats are down one point to 5%, Labour is unchanged at 4%, the Greens are down one point to 3%, Solidarity-PBP remains unchanged at 2%, and Independents or other parties are up three points to 19%.
