Tániste Simon Harris has said that a border poll is not a priority for the Irish Government as he visited Stormont for the first time since taking on the role last week. Simon Harris was speaking after he held meetings with the First and deputy First Minister. During the visit the Tániste also met with Justice Minister Naomi Long and SDLP leader Claire Hanna.
Speaking to the press after the meetings, Simon Harris addressed commentary around the potential for a referendum on a united Ireland to take place by 2030. This is despite his predecessor as Fine Gael leader and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying that a border poll should be an "objective" and not just an "aspiration" for the new government.
Mr Harris spoke of the "beauty" of the Good Friday Agreement but said that his priority was making sure that its institutions worked.
"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," he said.
"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.
"I don't think there's ever been a head or a deputy head of an Irish government who hasn't aspiredto a united Ireland, but that's not where my priority is today.It's not where my priority is in my role as Minister for Foreign Affairs.So my priority 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,that they work to their full potential."
The Táinste also raised concerns that people have yet to feel "prosperity" since the 1998 Agreement and said that should be the focus.
"I think in many ways the Good Friday Agreement had, at its core, two fundamentals: peace and prosperity," he continued.
"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 for all of the Good Friday institutions and Good Friday Agreement in its totality, and that's where my priority is."
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