Irish PM says hard Brexit would raise issue of Irish unification

If Britain leaves the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31, the question of planning for a future unification of Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland will inevitably arise, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Friday. Asked at a politics forum if the Irish government intended to begin to publicly plan for a united Ireland, he said it did not as it would be seen as provocative by pro-British unionists in Northern Ireland.

"But in the event of a hard Brexit, those questions do arise," he said. "If Britain takes Northern Ireland out of the European Union against the wishes of the majority of people in Northern Ireland – takes away their European citizenship and undermines the Good Friday Agreement - in doing so, those questions will arise, whether we like it or not," Varadkar said at the MacGill Summer School conference in the northwest of Ireland.

"We are going to have to be ready for that." Over 3,600 people died in three decades of violence between Irish nationalists seeking a united Ireland and the British security forces and pro-British "unionists".

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended the violence, foresees the holding of referendums on both sides of the border on uniting the island if London and Dublin see public support for that. The British government has made it clear that it does not believe there is sufficient support now.

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