Heaton-Harris blasts Varadkar's 'unhelpful' united Ireland comments
Minister Chris Heaton-Harris blasts Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s ‘unhelpful’ comments about a united Ireland as they clash over ‘snail’s pace’ of restoration of power-sharing in Belfast
- Irish premier, 44, last week said reunification would happen in his lifetime
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was blasted by a UK minister today over ‘unhelpful’ comments he made about Irish unity, as the two countries clashed over power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
Chris Heaton-Harris lashed out after the Irish premier, 44, last week said he believed reunification would happen in his lifetime.
The Northern Ireland Secretary spoke at an event in Belfast to launch a £858million fund for the country and Irish border regions.
He warned that the comments would have a detrimental effect on unionists who are currently blocking the formation of the Stormont assembly and power-sharing executive.
Mr Heaton-Harris said: ‘There are always plenty of people who are willing to point out when obstacles are put in the way.
‘The Taoiseach’s got a lot of domestic politics on his plate, but occasionally unhelpful comments down in Dublin do resonate up here amongst the unionist community, and I need the clearest picture possible to get the executive up and running.’
Chris Heaton-Harris lashed out after the Irish premier, 44, last week said he believed reunification would happen in his lifetime.
The Northern Ireland Secretary spoke at an event in Belfast to launch a £858million fund for the country and Irish border regions.
Last week Mr Varadkar said he believed the island of Ireland was ‘on a path’ to unification, adding: ‘In that united Ireland there is going to be a minority. Roughly a million people who are British. And you judge the success and quality of a country by the wait it treats its minorities. That is something we are going to have to think about.’
Today he said confidence is ‘starting to wane’ among Northern Ireland parties that it will be possible to get the Stormont institutions up and running again.
He said he told Mr Heaton-Harris that a point is coming when ‘alternative arrangements’ will need to be discussed to address the power-sharing gap in the region.
The Taoiseach said: ‘I don’t want to put an artificial deadline on it, work is ongoing, talks are still ongoing.
‘But I think we all appreciate they can’t be ongoing forever.
‘I think if it is advancing at all, it’s advancing at a snail’s pace, and I know from talking to all five main parties here that confidence is starting to wane about whether it is going to be possible to get the Assembly and the Executive up and running.
‘I am worried about that, I am certainly not giving up on it. We are willing to help in any way that we can.
‘But there does come a point at which the stalemate can’t go on forever.’
However Mr Heaton-Harris responded saying: ‘I think devolution can be restored and, to be frank, I don’t think it would be a Plan B because, whatever was happening, we’d be constantly trying to make sure that the executive got back up and running. ‘
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