Andy Burnham in Belfast on Thursday was rather confused about the origin of his Irish antecedents – we’ll come to that – but he was in no doubt about his position on a Border poll on a united Ireland.
He is against it. And there was no prevarication. “I am here to listen and to collaborate but some issues will be off the table, and that is one of them,” he told The Irish Times.
And in case there was any doubt on the matter, in separate interviews with BBC Northern Ireland and UTV he repeated the same phrase – a plebiscite on unity was “off the table”. It was a preheated comment that he brought with him and made sure to articulate strongly.
Burnham’s view was that talk or the suggestion of a referendum would “turn people in on themselves” and cause division. Look at the convulsions caused by the Brexit and Scottish referendums, he offered, and that was not good for society. Better to deal with current issues like the cost of living, budgets and parades.
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This seems to be the first occasion in recent times that a British prime minister or northern secretary was so definitive on the subject. Burnham certainly was far more decisive on the matter than Chris Bryant, who, on his first visit to the North as Northern Secretary last month, “deliberately” avoided answering when asked if he believed there would be a united Ireland.
“I believe lots of things. I’m sort of avoiding answering the question. I’m deliberately avoiding answering the question,” said Bryant, confusedly adding that he was “not starting a [Border] poll now, or this week, or this month, or, I would suggest, this year”.
There was no hesitation or confusion from his prime minister. Burnham’s answer may align with Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s preference for concentration on an “agreed Ireland” but it may upset some of his more unity-minded backbenchers. Fine Gael TDs pushing for planning for a Border poll also may be discomforted.
His “off the table” assertion will be very consoling for unionists, as reflected by the DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who was delighted he had “put the nonsense of a Border poll to bed”.
Obviously, it was deeply annoying for Sinn Féin in particular, some in the SDLP too, and the likes of the Ireland’s Future group, which has expended great energy and money in campaigning for a unity plebiscite.
After their meeting, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald asserted that the right to a Border poll was inherent in the Belfast Agreement and that he could not “high-handedly” set that right aside. She said Burnham accepted the “veracity of our position”.
McDonald is correct that Burnham’s comments won’t stop the pressure for a Border poll but he has indicated that it won’t be an issue for him during his tenure as PM. The firmness of his “off the table” remark also may put some brakes on those hoping for a fast-tracked referendum on a united Ireland.
Otherwise the new prime minister kept his cards fairly close to his chest. The big non-constitutional issue at Stormont is the Executive’s failure to agree a budget and the demand from Ministers for more money from the British treasury.
Burnham offered some nice words but so far no hard cash to meet the Executive’s large £1.6 billion shortfall. He suggested the Executive could help itself by making some savings and said it was reasonable for the treasury to expect “fiscal discipline” from Stormont Ministers.
He dodged the question over whether he had confidence in the Parades Commission and whether there should be resignations after the High Court quashed a decision to impose restrictions on the annual Orange Order parade at Drumcree in Portadown. One commissioner, Billy Gamble, has resigned but there have been no such announcements from the other five commissioners.
Burnham also repeated the British government’s commitment to seeing the Troubles Bill to deal with the legacy of the Troubles through Westminster. Just as with the Hillsborough disaster, families of the victims and the bereaved of the Troubles deserved truth, he said.
He also resolved one particular question over his background. Previously, he said that as well as connections with Drogheda and Co Louth, he also had family links to Donegal, which triggered interest among genealogists in the county. Sadly for them, Burnham explained that he seemed to have confused Donegal with Drogheda. “I don’t have a family connection [with Donegal], Drogheda is my connection,” he told The Irish Times.
