Andy Burnham, the new British Prime Minister, told reporters in Belfast that a united Ireland referendum is “off the table."
Burnham, who has roots in Drogheda, Co Louth, made the comments on Thursday during his first official visit to Northern Ireland since succeeding Keir Starmer as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
When asked if he would be the British Prime Minister to "push the button" on a border poll, Burnham told the BBC: "Well, obviously I'm here ... to listen, and I will take a collaborative approach, but some issues will be off the table, and that [a referendum] is one issue that will be off the table."
As per the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the Secretary of State of Northern Ireland - not the Prime Minister - has the power to call a border poll "if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland."
Chris Bryant, who was appointed as Northern Ireland's new Secretary of State during Burnham's Cabinet shuffle last month, has previously said a border poll in Northern Ireland may "come at some point," but more recently said it is "not top of my list of priorities" as the new Secretary of State.
Amárach Research's Island of Ireland EU Poll, commissioned by European Movement Ireland and published in May, found that 59% of respondents in Ireland and 63% of respondents in Northern Ireland would vote in favor of a united Ireland in the EU if a referendum were held tomorrow.
When asked why discussion about a border poll is off the table, Burnham explained to BBC: "Because I think we've got to focus on bringing people together as best we can.
“And I think we’ve lived through a decade where there’s been a referendum on Brexit, we had Scottish independence just before it.
“What we find is the rifts that come from those situations take a long time to heal, and it sets you right back, and you can’t focus on what’s right in front of us here and now, the cost-of-living pressures that are hurting people in Northern Ireland, the need to get that budget set so that public services can function as they should.
“These are the things right in front of us, and sometimes politicians go to things that they want to see, as opposed to getting the solutions that the public need.
“I think a decade since the Brexit referendum, I think we’ve had too much division, too much arguing, too backward-looking. We need to fix the things right in front of us in the here and now."
Burnham's office said earlier on Thursday that his priorities during his visit to Northern Ireland, part of his summer tour of the UK, would be young people and the cost of living.
While in Belfast, the Prime Minister met with First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, and also held meetings with Sinn Féin, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the Alliance Party, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
Ahead of his visit, Burnham said in a statement: "People in Northern Ireland want more breathing space from the cost of living, good, well-paid jobs and opportunities for their children.
"Political point-scoring in the past has made this harder, not easier. We need to be better, so I want to work with the Northern Ireland Executive and the main political parties to try and make a real difference to communities here, and that’s the message I’ll be taking into my meetings later."
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