United Ireland is ‘not my priority’ says country’s new prime minister

Irish reunification is a “legitimate political aspiration” but not a priority, Simon Harris, who is set to become Ireland’s next prime minister on Tuesday, has said.

In his first interview as Fine Gael leader, he said he understood the desire of some to see a united Ireland but that this was not “my focus or priority”.

“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,” he told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News.

The 37-year-old was appointed leader of the centre-Right Fine Gael party 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 on Tuesday.

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

Speaking about unification, Mr Harris said: “We have a peace process that 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,” he added.

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

But 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”.

The Good Friday Agreement says the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland should call a border poll if it “appears likely” a majority would back unity.

The Government insists this condition has not been met, with recent polls showing most Northern Irish voters want to remain in the UK.

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

“We had very clear national ambitions going into that engagement, in terms of protecting our national interest, protecting our role in the single market, and crucially, protecting the peace process,” he said. “But I want to say this very clearly, I do want to have closer relations with Britain, with the UK government.”

He added that trade between our two countries is worth €2.5 billion (£2.1 billion) every week.

Instead, Mr Harris has said his main focus will be on “law and order”, crafting a “more planned and sustainable” immigration policy and fighting “against the dangers of populism”.

His comments on law and order come five months after a riot broke out in Dublin, in which vehicles were set on fire, shops looted and dozens arrested.

‘Heinous criminals’

Mr Harris said he would fast-track legislation to grant judges powers to make sure “heinous criminals” serve long sentences before they are considered for release.

Asked about the Israel-Hamas conflict as it reached its half-year point, Mr Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire”.

“What we’ve seen happen in Gaza and the actions of the Israeli government, is utterly reprehensible,” he said. “It’s appalling and it’s grotesque.”

He said Ireland stood ready to play its part in a “political process that brings about a two-state solution” to the conflict, adding that his country understood a lot about political solutions.

Mr Harris, an Irish government minister, was the only candidate to seek the party leadership and will face a general election by March 2025 at the latest.