THE SUCCESS of the Micheál Martin’s Shared Island Unit is dependent on “buy-in from all communities” in the north, according to Dublin’s minister for foreign affairs.
Fine Gael minister Simon Coveney yesterday appealed to “unionism in particular” to engage with the initiative, which the taoiseach has insisted “is not going to increase momentum towards a border poll”.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently wrote to the Fianna Fáil leader commending his plan, while Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry has signalled a willingness to engage with Dublin to enhance cross-border cooperation.
But political unionism has been cool in its response to the unit since it was first announced in June, with UUP leader Steve Aiken recently denouncing it as “political expediency” designed to counter “the scourge of Sinn Féin”.
The DUP has been non-committal, with a spokesman last night saying the “key to constructive north-south relationships is respect for the constitutional position of Northern Ireland as an integral part of the United Kingdom”.
Mr Coveney said he was “very much in favour” of the unit, which has a budget of €500m for infrastructure projects such as the A6, Narrow Water Bridge and Ulster Canal, as well as cross-border partnerships in health and education.
He played down reports of a major row earlier this month in Dublin’s coalition cabinet which suggested the Fine Gael deputy leader was aggrieved over the unit’s encroachment into his foreign affairs remit.
“I wouldn’t read too much into some of the commentary that you’ve heard on it,” he told The Irish News, while stressing he wanted to be “very much in the middle of it”.
He described the unit as a “very real signal of intent” from the Dublin administration that it wanted to “partner the Northern Ireland Executive in some really big projects”.
“Really what this is about is trying to get dialogue in a structured way moving forward that can allow us to spend money to do things together – to start building relationships again on the back of positive policy initiatives,” he said.
But the minister said it was crucial that the unit had cross-party support north of the border.
“This is a positive initiative and we’re determined that it’ll work but it’s really only going to work if we get buy-in from all communities in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“That’s why I’d appeal to unionism in particular not to see this as a threat but as a genuine outreach to it.”
He said the unit’s focus was “less on the constitutional question and more on cooperation”.
