Trump: I’d love to see a unified Ireland
Trump has weighed in on the question of Irish unity, saying he would “love to see it unified” and predicting that a united Ireland is “going to happen eventually”.
He suggested it “may as well happen now” and appeared to cast Micheál Martin as the person to help make it happen.
He said:
Well, I don’t want to cause any problems, but I will tell you I’d love to see it unified.
I have friends on both sides, great people. They’re Irish people. How can they be bad, right?
I’d love to see it unified. I think it would be a great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened. It’s going to happen eventually.
You know what? The way I look at it, it’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.
We’re talking about it and you got the right man over here to get it moving.
But, yeah, I think it would be a fantastic thing.
Now the UK will have something to say about it, obviously. But I think it would be a great thing. I mean, how can it be bad?”
Key events
Trump has landed in Doonbeg, where he will stay overnight and present the Irish Open trophy before returning to Washington tomorrow.
On Trump’s comments on Irish unification, McDonald said they should prompt the Irish government to start preparing for a united Ireland.
Sinn Féin has long campaigned for Irish unification and supports holding a referendum on the issue when the conditions set out in the Good Friday Agreement are met. Under the 1998 peace deal, the Northern Ireland secretary of state should call a referendum if it appears likely that a majority would vote in favour.
“President Trump’s comments on Irish reunification are timely. The taoiseach must now begin planning for a united Ireland,” McDonald said.
‘US must stop facilitating genocide of Palestinian people,’ says Sinn Féin leader
In a message to Donald Trump, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has called on the US to end arms supplies to Israel and “stop facilitating the genocide of Palestinian people”.
Her party has been a strong advocate for Palestinian rights and has urged for Israel to face greater accountability over its actions in Gaza.
“The US plays a critical role in supporting peace in Ireland. That same commitment to diplomacy and peace must be applied to Palestine,” McDonald said in a post on X.
Trump arrives at Shannon airport for Irish Open
Donald Trump and his entourage have arrived at Shannon Airport. The US president disembarked Air Force One, shook hands with Irish ministers and waved to the cameras before hopping aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter, for the journey to Doonbeg.
Garda officers await the arrival of US president Donald Trump at his golf resort in Doonbeg on day three of the Irish Open.
Trump has departed Dublin and is due to arrive in Shannon shortly, before travelling to Doonbeg to spend the afternoon at his golf resort.
Badenoch hits back at Trump over unity comments
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has waded into the row over Trump’s Ireland unity comments, accusing the US president of “shooting from the hip” and describing his remarks as “deeply unhelpful”.
In a post on X, she said:
President Trump is shooting from the hip as usual, just like he did with Greenland and Canada becoming the 51st state. This sort of loose talk about the future of democratic countries is deeply unhelpful and creates unnecessary tension.
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. At a time when separatists are in power in Scotland, Wales and NI, we need a Government that will defend the Union clearly and confidently.
The Conservative and Unionist Party as is our true name will always defend the union. I would like to see the same clarity from Andy Burnham, rather than entertaining the idea of more independence referenda as he did on Wednesday at PMQs.
‘War and genocide can never be accepted,’ says Connolly
Irish president Catherine Connolly has issued a statement about her meeting with Donald Trump, saying “war and genocide can never be accepted”.
As President of Ireland, I am very conscious that Ireland and the United States of America are bound by strong ties. This is a deep connection, built over centuries, which allows us to speak openly to one another.
We are in a world facing the existential threat posed by war and climate change, both of which are inextricably interlinked.
I conveyed the strong view of the Irish people that the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted.
As a country which has suffered famine, colonisation and the violence of the Troubles, but also the importance of the long and challenging road to peace, I emphasised the unique insight which Irish people can bring to the resolution of conflict.”
A large crowd is gathering in the centre of Dublin to voice their opposition to Trump’s visit to Ireland.
The march is beginning at the city’s garden of remembrance.
Participants are carrying banners and flags, and chanting: “Donald Trump, can you hear? We don’t want you here.”
Northern Ireland’s leading unionist parties, the DUP and UUP, have hit back at Trump’s call for a unified Ireland.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson posted on X:
President Trump knows better than most that elections matter.
Northern Ireland’s constitutional future will be decided by the people of Northern Ireland, not by commentary in London, Dublin or Washington.
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom because that is the settled democratic will of its people.
I am confident NI will continue to choose the UK and the security it offers. As unionists we are not interested in the destruction of our country by joining with the Irish Republic.
TUV leader Jim Allister said Trump “is not the first US president to meddle in the affairs which don’t concern him”.
He added:
Northern Ireland is not a pawn in Trump’s fall-out with the UK. Our constitutional future does not depend on him or any other foreign dignitary.
Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA said the US president “like anyone else in the world, is entitled to express his view on the constitutional future of another country”, before adding:
But the only people whose decision counts are the people of Northern Ireland.
That is the principle of consent, now enshrined in law through the Belfast Agreement, negotiated and delivered by the Ulster Unionist Party.
America has been, and remains, an important ally, from the Second World War and the global fight against terrorism to the defence of democracy around the world. Their businesses increasingly see that our workforce here is the best in the world.
But when all is said and done, Northern Ireland’s future will be decided by the people of Northern Ireland.
I am confident that we are safer, more secure and more prosperous within the United Kingdom, and that is where we will remain.
Trump has finish his speech at Deerfield, ending on a warm note as he praised Ireland and its people.
“This country is fantastic, it’s just a fantastic place, I love it,” he said.
“I have investments here but that’s not why I love it. I like it because of it’s special people, you have unbelievable people in Ireland.”
Speaking of the Irish people, there have been protests in Dublin against Trump’s visit.
When he was asked earlier about the demonstrations, the US president said: “I didn’t know there was a protest. It can’t be a very big one because we’ve been all over Ireland today already, it’s early in the morning… but I haven’t seen any protest, It’s a friendly protest.”
Back to Trump’s speech, where he has offered his assessment of the Irish people, praising them for their warmth and friendliness before warning they can be “vicious bastards”.
You know they say you can’t generalise about groups of people, countries, but you can. People love coming to Ireland. You know why? Because they love you. They love the people. There’s a friendliness.
There’s also a viciousness and a toughness. Let me tell you, you are some of the most vicious bastards… but when you want to be nice, there is nobody nicer.”
Burnham’s position on Irish unification remains unchanged, says PM spokesperson
Prime minister Andy Burnham’s position on Irish unification remains unchanged, a spokesperson said.
It came after Donald Trump told reporters after a meeting with Micheál Martin in Dublin that unification would “happen eventually”.
During prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Burnham said he would stick to the Good Friday agreement “100%”.
“I am not aware that there is majority public support for another referendum, and until that changes, there will not be one,” he said.
PA reports that among the gifts Donald Trump received from Irish president Catherine Connolly was a St Brigid’s Cross, traditionally associated with peace, along with a collection of poetry that included Michael Longley’s sonnet Ceasefire.
The symbolism of the gifts is rather hard to miss. As our Ireland correspondent, Rory Carroll, writes in his report ahead of Trump’s visit to Dublin, Connolly was a vocal critic of Trump before becoming president:
Before winning the Irish presidency – a ceremonial post – last year, Connolly was an independent leftwing member of parliament for Galway who protested against Trump’s 2019 visit and more recently assailed him over his positions and policies on Gaza, Iran and other issues. “If we are going to act as an independent sovereign state, a neutral republic, we must use our voice to speak to power and the abuse of power by president Trump,” she said.
Asked in March about the criticism, Trump replied: “He’s lucky I exist.”
