{"id":660755,"date":"2026-08-28T10:01:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T10:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/660755\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T10:01:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T10:01:16","slug":"andy-burnham-in-belfast-mixing-up-donegal-and-drogheda-but-crystal-clear-on-border-poll-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/660755\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham in Belfast: Mixing up Donegal and Drogheda, but crystal clear on Border poll \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Burnham<\/a> in Belfast on Thursday was rather confused about the origin of his Irish antecedents \u2013 we\u2019ll come to that \u2013 but he was in no doubt about his position on a Border poll on a united Ireland.<\/p>\n

He is against it. And there was no prevarication. \u201cI am here to listen and to collaborate but some issues will be off the table, and that is one of them,\u201d he told The Irish Times.<\/p>\n

And in case there was any doubt on the matter, in separate interviews with BBC<\/a> Northern Ireland and UTV he repeated the same phrase \u2013 a plebiscite on unity was \u201coff the table\u201d. It was a preheated comment that he brought with him and made sure to articulate strongly. <\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s view was that talk or the suggestion of a referendum would \u201cturn people in on themselves\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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, \u201cdeliberately\u201d avoided answering when asked if he believed there would be a united Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe lots of things. I\u2019m sort of avoiding answering the question. I\u2019m deliberately avoiding answering the question,\u201d said Bryant, confusedly adding that he was \u201cnot starting a [Border] poll now, or this week, or this month, or, I would suggest, this year\u201d.<\/p>\n

There was no hesitation or confusion from his prime minister. Burnham\u2019s answer may align with Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a>\u2019s preference for concentration on an \u201cagreed Ireland<\/a>\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

His \u201coff the table\u201d assertion will be very consoling for unionists, as reflected by the DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who was delighted he had \u201cput the nonsense of a Border poll to bed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Obviously, it was deeply annoying for Sinn F\u00e9in in particular, some in the SDLP too, and the likes of the Ireland\u2019s Future group, which has expended great energy and money in campaigning for a unity plebiscite.<\/p>\n

After their meeting, Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald asserted that the right to a Border poll was inherent in the Belfast Agreement and that he could not \u201chigh-handedly\u201d set that right aside. She said Burnham accepted the \u201cveracity of our position\u201d. <\/p>\n

McDonald is correct that Burnham\u2019s comments won\u2019t stop the pressure for a Border poll but he has indicated that it won\u2019t be an issue for him during his tenure as PM. The firmness of his \u201coff the table\u201d remark also may put some brakes on those hoping for a fast-tracked referendum on a united Ireland. <\/p>\n

Otherwise the new prime minister kept his cards fairly close to his chest. The big non-constitutional issue at Stormont is the Executive\u2019s failure to agree a budget and the demand from Ministers for more money from the British treasury.<\/p>\n

Burnham offered some nice words but so far no hard cash to meet the Executive\u2019s large \u00a31.6 billion shortfall. He suggested the Executive could help itself by making some savings and said it was reasonable for the treasury to expect \u201cfiscal discipline\u201d from Stormont Ministers.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Stop fixating on Border polls and start a respectful conversation about Ireland\u2019s futureOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Burnham also repeated the British government\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cI don\u2019t have a family connection [with Donegal], Drogheda is my connection,\u201d he told The Irish Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham in Belfast on Thursday was rather confused about the origin of his Irish antecedents \u2013 we\u2019ll…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[37363,9,10,95645,18,78965,13,14,40332,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,16594,34866,5,51349,7,8],"class_list":["post-660755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-andy-burnham","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-chris-bryant","tag-eire","tag-emma-little-pengelly","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-gavin-robinson","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-mary-lou-mcdonald","tag-michelle-o-neill","tag-news","tag-stormont-assembly","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117172560270672087","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}