A spokesman for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Saturday the UK government’s position on Irish unification has not changed after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would “love” to see a united Ireland, Reuters reported.
Trump made the remarks during a visit to Dublin, where he met with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. Trump said he thought Irish unification would eventually happen and called it a “fantastic thing”, while acknowledging the UK would have a say.
Burnham’s position that a referendum on Northern Ireland’s constitutional status would not be held unless there was evidence of majority public support for one was reiterated by the UK government.
“I am not aware that there is majority public support for another referendum and until that changes, there will not be one,” Burnham told lawmakers in Parliament on Wednesday. His spokesman said Saturday the prime minister’s comments still stood.
A referendum on Northern Ireland’s status may be called by the British government at any time under the Good Friday Agreement from 1998. The deal established a process for constitutional change by consent following decades of conflict.
