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Speaking after their meeting today, Leo Varadkar said efforts to restore powersharing were moving “at a snail’s pace”
Last week Mr Varadkar said he believed he would see a united Ireland in his lifetime, and has previously discussed the potential for a “Plan B” if a devolved government in Northern Ireland was not restored by the autumn.
Mr Heaton-Harris said work to get Stormont running again was ongoing.
“There’s a responsibility, actually, to kind of allow this process to continue. Getting an executive up and running is the most important thing for me in my role as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,” he said.
“There are always plenty of people who are willing to point out when obstacles are put in the way.
“The Taoiseach’s got a lot of domestic politics on his plate, but occasionally unhelpful comments down in Dublin do resonate up here amongst the unionist community, and I need the clearest picture possible to get the executive up and running.”
Asked today if his comments last week about expecting to see a united Ireland within his lifetime would be seen as provocative by unionists, Mr Varadkar replied: “I don’t really think it’s the point.
“It’s not the first time that I’ve expressed my view that I’d like to see a united Ireland in my lifetime.
“Every time I say it, it is not the right time. So I would often ask the question, when is the right time?
“I stated very clearly that I believe the success of a united Ireland would be judged on how we treat our minorities. That is how you judge the success of states.
“In a united Ireland there would be one million people who are British. They don’t just identify as British, they are British. That is their culture, that is their heritage, and we in the south need to talk a lot more about what we would do to make sure they feel included, feel wanted, would put their effort behind a united Ireland and not seek to oppose it.
“If a united Ireland is going to be successful, and I don’t want it if it’s not going to be successful, we need to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to make sure that minority feel included, feel respected, feel wanted.”
Speaking in Belfast about efforts to restore powersharing, after his meeting with Chris Heaton Harris, Leo Varadkar said confidence is “starting to wane” among Northern Ireland parties that it will be possible to get the Stormont institutions up and running again.
“I think if it is advancing at all, it’s advancing at a snail’s pace, and I know from talking to all five main parties here that confidence is starting to wane about whether it is going to be possible to get the Assembly and the Executive up and running.
“I am worried about that, I am certainly not giving up on it. We are willing to help in any way that we can.
“But there does come a point at which the stalemate can’t go on forever.”
Mr Varadkar refused to specify a timeframe when the two governments might have to come up with a Plan B for the impasse.
“I did say to the Secretary of State that there is going to come a point where we can’t keep waiting and we have to start talking about alternative arrangements, within the confines of the Good Friday Agreement.
“I will be seeing Prime Minister Sunak in Spain in early October (in Granada) and that’ll be the next opportunity to talk.”
Asked if the Plan B arrangements he might talk to Prime Minister Sunak about might amount to Joint Authority, the Taoiseach said there was no provision for joint authority by the two sovereign States in the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Varadkar was later asked if he favoured Confederation as an interim step between the two jurisdictions on this island if a border poll were passed and unity endorsed. He said: “I’m not going to talk about that today – but I might on another occasion.”
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