Ireland’s prime minister speaks about a referendum on the reunification of Ireland

The Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny, said yesterday that if the people of Northern Ireland – who voted in their majority for the UK to stay in the European Union, “show the will to leave the UK and join the Republic of Ireland, they should have the right to a referendum on the matter”.

Kenny also said that the European Union should prepare for this scenario, comparing it to German reunification following the fall of the Berlin wall.

Kenny pointed out that Northern Ireland’s situation is different to that of Scotland, which also voted to stay in the European Union but will have to apply for EU membership in its own right should it secede from the UK. The Republic of Ireland is a member state of the European Union, and if Northern Ireland unites with it – making the geographical island a single state – then it would segue from being part of one EU member state (the UK) to being part of another (the Republic of Ireland).

Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister