Brexit negotiators should be prepared for united Ireland referendum, says Irish prime minister
Enda Kenny says a clause in Good Friday Agreement could be triggered to allow for future vote
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Your support makes all the difference.Brexit negotiators should be prepared for the prospect of a referendum on uniting Ireland, the Irish prime minister has said.
The Taoiseach Enda Kenny said a vote may take place if there is clear evidence a majority of Northern Irish citizens want to remain within the EU and leave the UK.
Speaking from the MacGill Summer School in Co Donegal, Mr Kenny said a clause in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement could be triggered due to Brexit, allowing a unity referendum to be held.
“If there's clear evidence of a majority of people wishing to leave the United Kingdom and join the Republic - that that should be catered for in the discussions that take place,” the prime minister told RTE.
“It may be, in the eyes of some, a fanciful theory but who knows what happens in 10, 20 years time?”
Mr Kenny said the situation could be similar to that of East Germany when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, after which the region was absorbed into the EU without going through a “very long and tortuous process” to secure membership.
The prime minister added the upcoming Irish Budget in October will be “shaped by, and address, the challenges resulting from Brexit”, framed around a “national economic response” to the vote.
At the same event on Sunday, leader of the opposition Fianna Fáil party Micheál Martin called for a referendum on unity, saying Brexit would encourage support for a united Ireland.
DUP MP Ian Paisley meanwhile said Mr Kenny’s comments were “pathetic and mischievous” and may not stand up to scrutiny.
55.8% of people in Northern Ireland voted to remain within the EU and 44.2 per cent to leave the union, making it one of a handful of places in the UK where Remain was victorious.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said there is "a need to be open and imaginative" on new constitutional arrangements for Ireland post-Brexit, welcoming Mr Kenny’s comments.
"In the context of the north being dragged out of the EU by England, there is now a greater opportunity to achieve [unity]”, Mr Adams said.
Ireland was divided in 1922 and Irish republicans including Mr Adams have long fought for a united country, a prospect heavily resisted by Protestants in Northern Ireland.
Last week former Irish prime minister John Bruton said Brexit was "the most serious, difficult issue facing [Ireland] for 50 years", as the country's economy has already been affected by the vote.
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