LAST UPDATE | 11 Sep 2023
TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has stood by a comment that he believes there will be a united Ireland in his lifetime.
Varadkar also said he believed “we are on the path to unification”, which has sparked criticism among the unionist community in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris appeared to describe the comments, as well as a suggestion to consider a Plan B for the restoration of powersharing, as “unhelpful”.
Speaking in Belfast today, Varadkar downplayed his remarks, saying it is “not the first time I have expressed my view that I would like to see a united Ireland in my lifetime”.
Stormont remains effectively collapsed, with the DUP continuing to refuse to participate in powersharing government until they are satisfied that Northern Ireland is properly protected in post-Brexit arrangements.
But Varadkar said: “Every time I say it, it is not the right time. So I would often ask the question, when is the right time?”
The Taoiseach also said that there would be a sizeable pro-British minority in a united Ireland, and he wanted to ensure they would be respected.
“I stated very clearly that I believe the success of a united Ireland would be judged on how we treat our minorities. That is how you judge the success of states.” he said.
In a united Ireland there would be one million people who are British. They don’t just identify as British, they are British.
“That is their culture, that is their heritage, and we in the south need to talk a lot more about what we would do to make sure they feel included, feel wanted, would put their effort behind a united Ireland and not seek to oppose it.”
“If a united Ireland is going to be successful, and I don’t want it if it’s not going to be successful, we need to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to make sure that minority feel included, feel respected, feel wanted.”
Varadkar made the original comment in an interview with RTÉ last week.
He had been asked about the Wolfe Tones, an Irish folk band that regularly spark debate over their song Celtic Symphony, which contains the words: “Ooh, ahh, up the Ra”, a reference to the IRA.
He said he thought some “maybe read too much into the politics of this”, adding: “But there is one thing that I would say, I believe we are on the path to unification.
“I believe that there will be a united Ireland in my lifetime, and in that united Ireland there is going to be a minority, roughly a million people who are British.
“And you judge the success and the quality of a country by the way it treats its minorities and that’s something we’re going to have to think about.”
Varadkar was criticised in 2021 for saying that Irish reunification could happen in his lifetime.
In January this year he declined to answer whether he thought there would be a united Ireland in his lifetime during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
He said at the time that EU-UK talks on renegotiating the Northern Ireland Protocol, arrangements that outline post-Brexit trade arrangements for the region, had reached a sensitive stage.
Meanwhile, Heaton-Harris today said no-one has presented him with an alternative to the UK government’s Legacy Bill.
The Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill includes a form of limited immunity for some perpetrators of crimes committed during the conflict, if they collaborate with a truth recovery body.
It would also prevent future civil cases and inquests into Troubles offences.
The legislation is opposed by all major Stormont parties, the Irish Government and victims’ campaign groups.
There was a silent protest held against the Legacy Bill outside the Newforge Sports Centre in south Belfast, where the Secretary of State met with Varadkar and vice-president of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic today.
Heaton-Harris said despite the widespread opposition to the Legacy Bill from politicians and victims, he has not been presented with an alternative option.
“Lots of people ranged against the Legacy Bill, but no-one has an alternative for what could possibly replace it, and no-one can tell me that the current situation that has been running for the last 25 years has been satisfactory to the families of victims either,” he said.
“So I fully acknowledge this is not perfect. I’ve met with an awful lot of people who lost loved ones in the Troubles, I’ve met with people who had family members maimed, I’ve met with people who are truly victims, I cannot put myself in their shoes.
“But 25 years on, some of these families will have been looking for answers (from) when the Troubles commenced – you could say the best part of 40 or 50 years – and haven’t really received them.
“This is an honest and true attempt to try and get information for those families.”
Varadkar said he has urged Heaton-Harris to pause the UK government’s controversial bill to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
“I had a chance to meet with the Secretary of State today and once again expressed the Irish Government’s opposition to the Legacy Bill,” he said.
“It isn’t law yet, it still has to pass through the House of Lords and receive Royal Assent. Once again, I appealed to the UK government to pause this, we don’t think it is the right thing to do.”
Varadkar has previously said he would “give consideration to whether an interstate case is appropriate” in the case of the Legacy Bill.
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