Ireland responds to Donald Trump's unification claims in fiery statement

Northern Irish leaders have criticized US President Donald Trump after he said he would ‘love to see’ a United Irelan during his visit to Dublin.

The POTUS touched down just today (September 12) in Ireland, where he attended an event alongside Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the South of Ireland when he was asked for his opinion on the possibility of a united Ireland.

Trump, who was raised in New York, US, and comes from Scottish ancestry, said it was ‘going to happen eventually’ and it ‘may as well happen now.’

Then, Trump spoke at the US ambassador’s residence in Ireland, where he reacted to his earlier response.

Trump said: “They’re going for the kill at all times, and they ask me a question: ‘What do you think about unification of Northern Ireland and Ireland?’”

Donald Trump was asked about unifying Ireland during his visit (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

He added: “That was one of the questions. But I actually said it would be, I think, a very cool thing. To be honest with you, I think it would be cool.”

He went on to say some time after during his visit that there's no right answer to the question, telling reports he'll find out how he did on the question tomorrow in the news.

Well, now the Northern Irish have responded, and it isn't in kind.

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA said Trump is ‘like anyone else in the world, is entitled to express his view on the constitutional future of another country’

However, he said ‘the only people whose decision counts are the people of Northern Ireland', noting: “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.”

DUP leader Gavin Robinson posted on X that the unification of Ireland would ‘destroy’ Northern Ireland, which is a recognized separate country in the UK.

He scathed: “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.”

He added: “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.”

Earlier this year, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said a unity referendum is ‘off the table’.

The controversy surrounding this comment comes due to the long-standing division between the North and South of Ireland.

While many in the North want to stay separate and to be part of the UK, there are those in the South who believe the country should unite as one.

However, these views differ from region to region, and there are people in Northern Ireland who want to unite and vis versa.

The division was so bad that there were wars, discrimination, religious battles, the time period known as The Troubles, and finally the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

Since the signing, there has been relative peace between the loyalists and unionists, however, it's not always clear cut.

Online, people were quick to joke about Trump's stance, with one person calling him the only 'Orange' man to want to unify – which is a joke about the Orange Order, which is a Protestant and unionist organization started in 1795.

Others brought up the damage the division in Ireland has caused.

The tensions between the North and South have been well documented (Photo by Gary Weaser/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In other responses, UUP MLA Robbie Butler MLA claimed his comments had changed the opinions some held against Trump.

“For years we have been told this president is beyond the pale: his character, his conduct, his position on Gaza,” he said. “Some of those now cheering him boycotted the White House over it. One sentence about a united Ireland and he is apparently a statesman of rare vision. It seems his judgment is sound only on the one subject where it happens to suit. The cherry picking is at least consistent.”

TUV leader Jim Allister, however, went on to say that Trump ‘is not the first US president to meddle in the affairs which don’t concern him’ as 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.”

Ultimately, the choice is that of the Northern and Southern Irish people.