Border poll 'not a priority' for Dublin - with Taoiseach labelling Irish unity an 'aspiration'

Simon Harris said the question of a referendum does not “arise currently” – saying it was more important for the new UK Government to work with Ireland in supporting the power-sharing arrangements at Stormont.

After the general election, nationalists hold one more seat than unionists with Sinn Fein becoming the largest party with 7 Westminster seats, after the unionist electorate returned three parties and an independent after years of DUP dominance in London.

Mary Lou McDonald used the results to urge new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to “embrace the right of Irish self-determination and constitutional change toward Irish reunification”.

However, Sir Keir has previously stated that the issue of a united Ireland is not on his horizon – and the new Secretary of State has told the News Letter that he won’t be introducing new criteria for the calling of a vote, something nationalists have asked for.

While Sinn Fein have repeatedly called for a border poll, or at least steps in that direction, the SDLP have been much more cautious acknowledging during the campaign that that point has not been reached.

The election leaves only 7 of Northern Ireland’s eighteen MPs calling for a vote sooner rather than later.

Yesterday, Taoiseach Simon Harris told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show that it was no surprise that there were differing views on the constitutional question.

He said: “The fact that we have different views on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland is not earth shattering news.

“And actually it’s because we have differences in relation to the constitutional question that we must find practical ways of working together.

“The Good Friday Agreement allows us both have those legitimate, differing aspirations, and there’s a structure in place to address that.

“For me, though, the focus and priority isn’t on a referendum, the focus on priority has to be on delivery.”

Mr Harris added: “People in Northern Ireland, people in Ireland, people in Britain, I believe, want to see real delivery when it comes to things like public services, their economy, prosperity, the economy in terms of how it impacts on their family and their businesses.

“And we have an opportunity now that the (Stormont) institutions are back up and running and I think we have people now in key leadership positions in Northern Ireland, in Dublin and in London who are fully committed to that.”

Mr Harris was asked if the prospect of a unity referendum had moved further away following Labour’s election win.

He said: “I just don’t think it arises currently.

“I think the most important thing here is as we have ministers back at their desks in Northern Ireland, and that they get on with the work, and that the British and Irish governments, as co-guarantors of the peace process, play our role in supporting that too.

“It’s absolutely appropriate to have legitimate constitutional aspiration, my party is called Fine Gael, the united Ireland Party.

“That’s my legitimate constitutional aspiration for the future of this island.

“It doesn’t arise today, though.

“What arises right now is a moment to reset Anglo-Irish relations after what was a very turbulent period of time, and I’m very excited about the opportunities that that presents.”

The Labour landslide in Great Britain has also pushed the question of Scottish independence onto the back burner after the party decimated the once dominant Scottish Nationalists.

The SNP is left with just 9 seats – losing 39 in total.

Labour is once again the dominant voice of Scotland in Westminster.

The party has been clear that it does not intend to re-open the question of Scotland’s future within the United Kingdom.

The SNP has been riven with divisions over how it achieves independence or a second referendum, however support for independence still remains high across the Irish Sea.