Trump says that united Ireland would be ‘a great thing' | BBC News

Donald Trump has said that he would love to see a unified Ireland, calling the prospects of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland becoming one fantastic. The comments came at the start of a two-day visit focused on diplomacy and gold. Irish police say that they are carrying out one of the biggest security operations in the country's history. In the capital Dublin, the US president met with the country's leadership. He was greeted first by the Irish president, Catherine Connolly. That was before he then sat down for a bilateral discussion with the leader of the Irish government, the Taoiseach, Michael Martin. But so far, it has been his comments on the prospect of a unified Ireland that are getting the most attention. Let's cross over to our Ireland correspondent, Sarah Kirvan, who is at not far from the golf course where Donald Trump is now, in theory, enjoying the golf. That is the main reason why he is in Ireland. But my goodness, his comments regarding a unified Ireland have caused quite the stir, Sarah. Absolutely. This was all meant to be a two-day visit to the Republic of Ireland to watch the Irish Open, which is being played on his course, which is about a mile and a half outside the village of Doonbeg, where I'm standing now. But it is those comments on a unified Ireland that have really led headlines today. Let's just go through a bit of what he actually said. He'd been meeting with the Taoiseach, Michael Martin, and the Irish president, Catherine Connolly. It was at a press conference afterwards. We know that President Donald Trump speaks quite often off the cuff. He started speaking about the relationship between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. He said he didn't want to cause any problems, but he said he thought a united Ireland would be a great thing, adding, I'd love to see it unified. Now, he did add then later in the morning that it's one of those questions where no matter what you say, there's no good answer, but then he added that it would be a cool thing. Now, that issue is one of the most sensitive and contentious on this island. It has been for decades, if not hundreds of years. As you can imagine, there has been an absolutely massive reaction to what the most powerful man in the world had to say today. We have heard from number 10 on this. Downing Street referred to the Prime Minister Andy Burnham's comments in the House of Commons earlier this week, where he said that he would stick to the Good Friday Agreement 100%. And comments we've had from the Irish government have continued broadly along that theme as well. And just to explain what the Good Friday Agreement was, well, it largely ended 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. And it does allow for the Northern Ireland Secretary, who at the moment is Chris Bryant, to call a border poll, but only if it appears likely that a majority of people in Northern Ireland would vote for Irish unification. Now, exactly how that is assessed, well, that has been something that's been debated pretty much ever since. Now, we did also hear from unionist politicians in Northern Ireland who feel very strongly they want Northern Ireland to remain as part of the United Kingdom. We heard from Gavin Robinson, leader of the DUP, Northern Ireland's largest unionist party. He said that what happens to Northern Ireland won't be decided by commentary in London, Dublin or Washington, but by people in Northern Ireland. We also heard from Sinn Féin's president, a party that wants Northern Ireland to leave the UK and join the Republic of Ireland to create a united Ireland. Mary Lou MacDonald said the conversation on Irish unity has now shifted following what President Trump had to say. And we heard from the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, who said that President Trump was shooting from the hip as usual, adding that Northern Ireland is a part of the UK. Now, as I said earlier, this was supposed to be a visit that was largely a bit about golf. There was only meant to be a bit of a sprinkling of politics and diplomacy because President Trump wanted to come to his course to watch the Irish Open. But those comments he made on the possible unification of Ireland, well, the reaction has been massive so far. And I think it's just beginning because we're going to be hearing a lot of discussion and debate about those comments for days, if not weeks to come. Yeah. And if you could think about just how sensitive it is, just a few weeks ago, Andy Burnham, on his first trip to Northern Ireland as the UK Prime Minister, he said that a referendum on a united Ireland is off the table. The point that you made a little earlier, Sarah, which was really interesting, is how much was this Donald Trump shooting from the hip, off the cuff comment, and how much potentially was it calculated, given that we are coming up to the midterms in the United States and given that historic connection between the US and Ireland? Yeah, that's a really interesting point. It's something we're starting to hear a lot of discussion about. We know that we've come to expect the unexpected when it comes to how President Donald Trump addresses the press, what he says. He is known for making really off-the-cuff commentary and comments. But we are starting to hear a bit more chat now. Well, if it wasn't off the cuff, what if it was more calculated coming into the midterms in the US? There's a massive Irish-American population, I think more than 31 million Irish-Americans living in the US. That's a massive demographic. Was he making these comments? Was he starting this debate again because he wanted to play to them? That's a lot of what we're hearing today. It's always really difficult to tell with President Donald Trump. But another really interesting discussion point as we come up to those really vital midterm elections. Yeah, absolutely fascinating. Sarah Govan there in Doomberg, thank you so much. Of course, that's where Donald Trump is now.