Border poll conditions ‘have to be discussed’, Taoiseach says

Micheal Martin is due to meet Andy Burnham later this month.

The conditions for calling a border poll is “an issue that has to be discussed”, the Taoiseach has said.

Issues relating to Northern Ireland are on the agenda for a meeting between Micheál Martin and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham later this month.

Mr Burnham drew criticism when he said discussions on a border poll would be “off the table” as he visited Belfast at the end of August, later clarifying his remarks were about the day’s engagements as he said he was committed to the Good Friday Agreement.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Martin said: “He hasn’t said anything different to previous British prime ministers, and in our view, you know, we’ve got to continue to build on reconciliation, continue to build on increasing that connectivity, practical connectivity, north and south.

“What’s important is that the Good Friday Agreement came about because of the British and Irish governments being anchors to that initiative, working with all the political parties, political traditions in the North and in the Republic, and so, in our view, the future has to be determined in that spirit and in that approach.”

Under the terms of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, the Secretary of State can decide to hold a border poll, and it also places a duty on the office holder to call one if it appears likely a majority would vote for Irish unification.

Asked if he would be discussing the matter with Mr Burnham, the Taoiseach told reporters at his Fianna Fáil party think-in that he did not want to “pre-empt” the meeting, but added: “That issue was left, perhaps deliberately vague at that time (of the Agreement).”

Pressed on his own views, Mr Martin said unity “would be the best outcome” but he did not want to put dates on it.

He said the concept of republicanism is much broader than a border poll: “It’s about uniting Protestant, Catholic, the centre, in the concept of Wolfe Tone.

“Perhaps in the modern area it has broadened out to involve more than than just that. And I think we should be careful of not being sucked in by soundbites and by campaigns that seem to me to have short-term objectives to satisfy political bases.”

He added: “We’re not going to be browbeaten in by various motions or calls for this or a call for that.

“I’ve been through the Good Friday Agreement, and probably one of the few people in Leinster House that was actually in the Government that signed off in the Good Friday Agreement.

“I do have an understanding of how political agreements come about, and they don’t come about by saying it’s our way or the highway or no-one’s way. So that’s that’s what informs my approach.”

Last week, Fine Gael junior minister Neale Richmond told the BBC Borderland podcast that he believed the Northern Ireland Secretary should set out the conditions for calling a border poll.

Asked if he supported that, the Taoiseach said: “It’s not about timelines. I do think that that’s an issue that has to be discussed and dealt with.

“But I think the more important issue is – and to a certain respect some of the studies we’ve done in the Shared Island Unit have revealed – the differences, the divergences that have occurred in 100 years.

“So since partition, a lot of divergence across the island because of partition, different systems, education, health, and so on, like that.”

Mr Martin said the big challenge was around attituded as he said “public opinion polls are just scratching the surface”.