Harris says uniting island isn’t top priority... but he still wants it

COST should not be the main factor in considering a united Ireland, taoiseach-inwaiting Simon Harris has insisted.

The Fine Gael leader said on Friday that despite his view that reunification is not a current priority, he is committed to it and hopes to see it in his lifetime.

He was asked about that stance yesterday and also on the findings of a new study from the Dublin-based Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) that suggested unification could cost the Government €20billion a year for 20 years, with a 25% increase in taxation potentially needed to shoulder the costs of politically reuniting the country.

‘Instinctively, I want to see a united Ireland and cost isn’t the overbearing factor,’ Mr Harris told RTÉ in response to the report’s findings.

He also said that his priority was harnessing the ‘full potential’ of the Good Friday Agreement and better crossborder relations.

Mr Harris said he would not be dismissive of the IIEA report but added that its findings had prompted a lot of scrutiny.

‘There’s a dynamic effect to any economic change, but the point is the Good Friday Agreement provides a way forward for people’s political aspirations,’ he told RTÉ’s The Week In Politics.

In a later interview with RTÉ’s This Week, he was asked if he was turning his back on Fine Gael’s founding principle of seeking a united Ireland.

‘Let me be clear, I want to see a united Ireland, I believe in a united Ireland, it is in the title of my party,’ he said.

Mr Harris added: ‘It’s my personal political aspiration that we would see one in my lifetime.’