United Ireland ‘not priority’, says new PM

IRISH reunification is a “legitimate political aspiration” but it is not a priority, said Simon Harris, who is set to become Ireland’s next prime minister tomorrow.

In his first interview as Fine Gael leader he said he understood reunification hopes but added: “That’s not where my focus and priority is right now and quite frankly, it’s not where I believe our focus and priority should be.

Mr Harris, 37, was appointed leader of the centre-right Fine Gael last month after the shock resignation of his predecessor Leo Varadkar. A vote to confirm Mr Harris as taoiseach, which he is expected to win, will be held in the Irish parliament tomorrow.

Mr Harris’s comments came after a landmark report said a united Ireland could cost Dublin more than £17billion every year for two decades and warned of an “immediate, major reduction” in Irish living standards were it to happen.

Speaking about unification on Sky News programme Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Harris said the peace process “is enduring on this island and is in many ways one of the most successful peace processes in the world, but it’s also a frosty peace ... I don’t believe we’ve had an opportunity to see the full potential of prosperity embedded right across the island of Ireland, through the framework of the Good Friday Agreement”.

The 1998 deal largely brought an end to the Troubles; three decades of violence over British rule in Northern Ireland in which some 3,500 people died.

Sinn Fein, which won the last Northern Ireland Assembly elections and has a commanding lead in the Irish polls, has called for votes on a united Ireland by 2030, with Mary Lou Mcdonald, its leader, saying in January that a united Ireland is “within touching distance”.

Mr Harris also addressed diplomatic tensions post-brexit, and said he would seek “closer relations” with the UK.

He added that trade between the two countries is worth €2.5billion (£2.15billion) every week.