Ireland's Tánaiste Simon Harris said in Northern Ireland on Tuesday that a border poll is not a "priority" for him and that he does not expect one to take place within the decade.
Harris, who served as Taoiseach in the last Irish Government, was in Northern Ireland on Tuesday for his first time as Tánaiste. He met with First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly at Stormont, as well as other party leaders.
Making sure we harness the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement is a key priority for me as Tánaiste. Grateful to everyone for their time today.
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) January 28, 2025
When asked on Tuesday, the Tánaiste said that it is not his "expectation" that a border poll will be called within a decade.
According to the PA, Harris said there has never been "Irish head or deputy head who hasn't aspired to a united Ireland but that is not where my priority is today."
While Ireland's latest programme for Government doesn't explicitly discuss Irish Unity, it does commit to remaining "steadfast in implementing the Good Friday Agreement in full."
As per the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland's Secretary of State 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."
Meanwhile, Fine Gael's manifesto ahead of the 2024 Irish General election says the party is "committed to unification as our objective."
Harris further said on Tuesday: “I’m very conscious that the Good Friday Agreement is a mechanism and a peace agreement that allows everybody to have their legitimate aspiration as to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland.
“And that is, in many ways, the beauty of the Good Friday Agreement, that it can respect differences in terms of aspiration and differences in terms of the constitutional question.”
He continued: “What my priority is is in making sure that the Irish Government, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, can play a really constructive, positive role in making sure all of the institutions work, that they work to their full potential.
“I think in many ways, the Good Friday Agreement had at its core two fundamentals – peace and prosperity.
“I think many people in Northern Ireland and across the island and islands have seen the peace dividend of the Good Friday Agreement.
“Many have yet to see the prosperity dividend.
“And I think it’s really important that we focus on harnessing the full potential of all of the Good Friday institutions and the Good Friday Agreement in its totality.
“That’s where my priority is.”
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The Tánaiste's comments come a few days after the group Irish Border Poll, which advocates for Irish reunification, shared its first podcast of 2025.
In it, Colin Harvey, a Professor in the School of Law at Queen’s University Belfast, says that the time for running away from debate about constitutional change is over.
“People worry if this new Irish government is going to dodge the Irish Unity issue for the next five years," Harvey said.
“The worry I have is that the more the Irish and British governments stay away from the United Ireland debate, the more they lend credibility to those people who say it is divisive. That creates a messaging that there’s something not quite right about the Unity debate.
"Think about what that means for us in the North trying to make the argument proactively? We need to keep calling this out and reiterate that pursuing Irish Unity should be uncontroversial."
Harvey said that in Northern Ireland, there is still a "chill factor" about joining the Unity conversation "because there’s still that worry about the consequences of them doing so." Harvey feels this shouldn't be the case and needs to be vigorously confronted.
“The next time some worthy person stands up and lauds the GFA, keep reminding them that a border poll is a fundamental part of the Agreement," Harvey said.
Harvey added: “People expect leadership from the Irish government. We’re talking about what remains an imperative for the Irish government and state as laid out in article 3 of the constitution."
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