DUP MP warns against Dublin ‘interference’ as taoiseach talks up his Shared Island Unit

But despite his calls for greater cross-border co-operation on things like transport and education today, taoiseach Micheal Martin also said that he is not entertaining any plans for a border poll in the next five years.

The Taoiseach was speaking at Dublin Castle at the launch of the Shared Island Initiative, which involves setting aside €500m for north/south initiatives spanning five years.

Mr Martin is leader of Fianna Fail (whose slogan is simply ‘the republican party’) which last year forged a formal bond with the SDLP.

Within weeks of taking power in June, Mr Martin had created a “Shared Island Unit” within his taoiseach’s office.

In his speech today he said it is “our ambition to build a shared island underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement” – a treaty which he said was a work of “genius”.

This involves “further developing our shared island economy” and “working to deepen our cooperation in areas such as health and education”.

In practical terms this means advancing the “A5 transport corridor, the Ulster Canal and the Narrow Water Bridge” projects, as well as investing in Ulster University’s Magee campus, Londonderry.

In remarks made seperate to his prepared speech, Mr Martin also sought to allay unionist fears his unit is a “stalking horse” for a united Ireland.

“The Government has said that, for the next five years, a border poll is not on our agenda,” he said.

“There is no ideological opposition to the idea of working north/south whilst respecting people’s identity and constitutional perspectives.”

In addition, he said he grew up with a very “negative attitude of Britain’s role in Northern Ireland, like many others in my generation, and many of the prejudices that came with that” – but that we need to “move beyond all of that and get down to pragmatic engagement”.

Afterwards Jeffrey Donaldson, DUP leader in the House of Commons, told the News Letter: “We’re certainly not opposed to co-operation, where that’s to mutual benefit.

“But we are clear there is a difference between co-operation and interference – and it’s important those lines are very clearly laid in terms of any of the kind of projects the taoiseach has mentioned.

“The references in this speech to the Good Friday Agreement remind us that, front and centre in that is the principle of consent. And the Irish government changed the constitution of the Republic to reflect and incorporate the principle of consent into their constitution.

“Any co-operation that takes place between NI and the RoI must be set within the constitutional framework that exists at the moment.”

He said it is important that his Shared Island Unit does not “usurp” the role of the already up-and-running North-South Ministeral Council (a cross-border forum set up under the Belfast Agreement).

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