‘Security Nightmare’ of Trump Visit to Dublin Looms as Burnham Incites Row Over United Ireland

Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s declaration that the prospect — dream to some, nightmare to others — of a united Ireland is “off the table” underscores how the fate of that island could reemerge as one of the United Kingdom’s most explosive questions.Mr. Burnham made those comments to the BBC last week during a visit to Belfast, the capital of the six counties of Northern Ireland, which ultimately answers to London. The premier’s “pooh-poohing” of unification drew a rebuke from one of his predecessors, Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The Scotsman reckons that a single Irish polity is inevitable “in the long-term.” The debate over Ireland surfaces less than two weeks before President Trump is due to attend the Irish Open at his golf course at Doonbeg, County Clare. He also will make appearances at Dublin on a visit that is set for September 12-13. One Irish politician, Nessa Cosgrove, reckons that the presidential visit amounts to a “security nightmare” because of the possibility of protests over Gaza in the pro-Palestinian nation. RTE reports that Irish police and military have established a “special joint command and control centre” to ensure Mr. Trump’s safety.Mr. Trump was asked about Irish unification in March, around St. Patrick’s Day. He responded “I love mergers.” Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly— an ardent loyalist to Britain — called that “clearly a joke. I think a good thing about this is that it shows that he knows about Northern Ireland. He knows about the context of that. He feels comfortable enough to be making that type of joke.” As part of the same St. Patrick’s Day festivities, Mayor Zohran Mamdani was also asked his stance on unification , to which he responded that “I gotta be honest, I haven’t thought enough on that question.” He later clarified that “when it comes to the future of Ireland, the best people to listen to are the Irish.”Mr. Burnham’s comments with respect to the prospects for unification were made to the BBC in response to a question about the futures of Ireland and Scotland within — or without — the United Kingdom. He told the Beeb that “a decade since the Brexit referendum I think we’ve had too much division, too much arguing, too much backward-looking.we need to fix the things right in front of us in the here and now.” The prime minister’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from the first minister for Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill. She is a member of the leftist and republican Sinn Féin party, long a champion of uniting the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland with the six counties of Northern Ireland. Ms. O’Neill thunders that “it is not the right of any British prime minister to deny our people’s right to self-determination.” Northern Ireland, long a Protestant stronghold, now features more Catholics. Sinn Féin does not sit in the British Parliament, but its members do sit in the Irish parliament — Dáil Éireann — and the Northern Ireland Assembly of Stormont. The party’s refusal to take its seats at Westminster stems from its refusal to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown, which is a requirement to sit in the House of Commons. The party holds seven seats in absentia. The Government of Ireland Act of 1920 — signed by Secretary of State for the Colonies Winston Churchill — created Northern Ireland in the wake of the Irish War of Independence. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922 officially created the Irish Free State, which would become the Republic of Ireland. The division of the island of Ireland into the southern Republic with its capitol at Dublin and Northern Ireland centered at Belfast — and ultimately London — is now more than a century old. Britain’s hold over Northern Ireland was the driving force of “The Troubles,” a three decade long stretch of urban warfare centered around Belfast that claimed more than 3,500 lives, of whom more than half were civilians. The carnage pitted British Army and unionist paramilitaries against the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The violence came to an end in 1998 with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, brokered by President Clinton.The accord, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, envisioned a power-sharing arrangement that has proved durable enough to be today’s status quo. The agreement, though, acknowledges the legitimacy of the desire for a united Ireland and stipulates that it can be realized only with the consent of a majority of the people of both the north and south. Sinn Féin called for a referendum on unification in the wake of Brexit, to no avail. Relations between Dublin, Belfast, London, and Europe are governed by the Northern Irish protocol. In July, Irish police intercepted a vehicle carrying a military grade explosive heading for Northern Ireland. Authorities blame “dissident republicans who did not agree with the Good Friday Agreement” for the attempted terror attack. Ireland’s president, Catherine Connolly, has said that “Clearly, I have a vision and for a united Ireland. It’s in our constitution that that would happen and I look forward to that day.” Hers, though, is a strictly ceremonial position.The Good Friday Agreement mandates that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland — who serves at Mr. Burnham’s pleasure — “shall exercise the power” to hold a referendum on unification if it “appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish” for unification. That standard is vague enough that the benchmark for when a referendum is required remains elusive.

‘Security Nightmare’ of Trump Visit to Dublin Looms as Burnham Incites Row Over United Ireland

‘Security Nightmare’ of Trump Visit to Dublin Looms as Burnham Incites Row Over United Ireland

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