United Ireland

Uh-

Yeah, this was, he said, "A united Ireland will happen eventually, and it would be a great feather in everyone's cap." We've had Andy Burnham first, and now the US president weighing in on, uh-

Yeah, and I mean, you know, y- they always talk about the special relationship between, uh, Ireland and the United Kingdom-

Mm

Yeah.

It, it was, and Peadar Tóibín is actually joining us from Derry, uh, the Aontú leader and TD for Mid-East.

Um, Peadar Tóibín, um, after Andy Burnham, now, um, uh, Donald Trump saying, "United Ireland will happen eventually, and it would be a great feather in everyone's cap." Uh, were you surprised at that intervention, and do you welcome it?

Yeah, so it's a spectacular intervention, uh, to be honest [laughs].

Welcoming his comments, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Labour and Social Democrats, SDLP, Claire Hanna, said that there was something quite extraordinary about Trump being in Dublin.

He was talking openly about Irish unity.

Tras acoger con satisfacción sus comentarios, la líder del Partido Socialdemócrata y Laborista, SDLP, Claire Hanna, afirmó que era algo bastante extraordinario en que Trump estuviera en Dublín hablando abiertamente sobre la unidad irlandesa.

«Cuando incluso Donald Trump se ha dado cuenta de que la unidad irlandesa ya no es una perspectiva lejana o teórica, eso dice mucho sobre lo mucho que ha cambiado este debate», dijo.

«When even Donald Trump has realized that Irish unity is no longer a distant prospect or a rich one, that says a lot about how much this debate has changed», he said.

Cuando incluso Donald Trump se ha dado cuenta de que la unidad irlandesa ya no es una perspectiva lejana o teórica.

Eso dice mucho sobre lo mucho que ha cambiado este debate, dijo.

Now, Senator, I wanted to play that, one, to get your reaction, and two, assuming that the president's remarks will make its way out to the people of Ireland, how will that play into the protests that will be happening today, the protests that you're going to as soon as we're done talking?

So I think there's a lot of support for United Ireland.

But I'd say there's communities in the north of Ireland, in Northern Ireland, who would be very upset to hear Trump saying that.

And again, it just reflects that he doesn't really understand political sensitivities.

He doesn't understand the context.

He's just saying things.

But his call for United Ireland will have absolutely no impact on the protest today.

People won't care if he supports that or not.

So I wouldn't dismiss potential issues down the line after this press conference.

So he hasn't given up on it, and I'm afraid I'm conscious of time, and just when we came out of the press conference there, it's just coming through, one remark he did make, which is, Quite interesting, he said that it would be a great thing to see a united Ireland.

Something that no doubt will be discussed in the minutes and hours and days ahead as well.

But we're out of time and I want to thank our panellists, Suzanne Lynch, Graeme Finlay, Marion McKeown and also Edgar Morgan-Roth.

Oh, maybe four or five questions.

Questions were all to Donald Trump after Micheál Martin gave a bit of an introduction in which he talked along predictable lines about the historic and current business and economic links between the two countries, etc., etc., And it was during that encounter then that the president dropped his mini bombshell on his support for a united Ireland, which was, I suppose, certainly what we were all talking about in the press pack afterwards.

Can I just ask you how these things work? People might wonder who were watching it this morning.

As you say, there's this absolute cacophony of people shouting from the spray and then one voice rises above.

And that's escaping without disaster.

I think the comments about the North, you know, while they will have caused, I think, temporary consternation in Dublin, possibly in London, and certainly in Belfast amongst unionists.

I mean, I don't think they amount to a reorientation of American policy towards the question of a united Ireland.

I mean, as you know, as Donald Trump's later speech demonstrated, and indeed, as practically all his public utterances demonstrate, that you can't necessarily take what he says too seriously.

election with a little piddly little Green Party with a fiver per person? Come on.

Can you buy? Can you buy victory? Can you buy victory? Trump's United Ireland.

Donald Trump is in Ireland and he's saying we need to pull it all together.

We need a job.

He wants a giant island.

And I've got a reason for thinking why he thinks that.

Actually, and I want to ask all of our Irish community, what are your thoughts on a united Ireland? Are we past the days of Protestants and Unionists wanting to be aligned to the UK? is being aligned to the uk a little bit like no thanks don't want to but would northern ireland prefer to be its own boss or would most people in northern ireland now like ah sod it let bygones be bygones let's all be one who knows think thank you very much yeah um i'm going to talk briefly about your comments under my post yesterday as well thank you um trump's united island and more anti-asylum protesters in Portsmouth.

But this time they've been told, take your masks off.

You're very welcome to Saturday with Cormac O'Hara.

Ours in Ireland and Trump's support for a united Ireland causes ructions already.

We've reaction from the DUP and we'll track US President Donald Trump as he crosses the country from the Phoenix Park.

to Doonbeg in County Clare, as he's currently doing.

After the break, we'll get...

Reaction from Gregory Campbell of the DUP because it is making...

What he said about a united Ireland and support for a united Ireland is making headlines not just on RT but on the Belfast Telegraph, the BBC, Sky News, the Telegraph in the UK, right across world media.

Let me read the headline from the Telegraph in the UK, for example.

It is the same.

United Ireland, let's go.

You're going to learn what the rest of us have learned, and you just got to let the Finn Balor thing go, man.

He's hurt us too many times.