A war of words between the Dublin and London governments over comments by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar about Irish unification overshadowed a major €1.1bn funding investment in Northern Ireland.
Stormont remains effectively collapsed, with the DUP continuing to refuse to participate in powersharing government until they are satisfied that Northern Ireland is properly protected in post-Brexit arrangements. “In a united Ireland there would be one million people who are British. They don’t just identify as British, they are British.
“I believe that there will be a united Ireland in my lifetime, and in that united Ireland there is going to be a minority, roughly a million people who are British. The Northern Ireland Secretary said he would not abandon efforts to bring back the Executive, but said it was impossible to put a timeframe on when the devolved Assembly would return.
Heaton-Harris and Varadkar were in Belfast, with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, to launch a new joint peace funding programme.Last week, Varadkar said he believed he would see a united Ireland in his lifetime, and has previously discussed the potential for a “plan B” if devolved government in Northern Ireland was not restored by the autumn.“There’s a responsibility, actually, to kind of allow this process to continue.