Irish PM Suggests U.S. Could Aid Future United Ireland Initiative Following Trump’s Support

NEW YORK — Almost thirty years after the Good Friday Agreement reshaped Northern Ireland, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin told Fox News Digital that the United States might assist a future drive toward a united Ireland, citing President Donald Trump’s expressed support for reunification.

Martin, whose Fianna Fáil party advocates for Irish unity, noted that the 1998 accord, which largely ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles, established a peaceful process to determine the region’s constitutional future, but warned that bridging the deep divide between nationalist and unionist communities remains essential.

“I believe in unity and my party believes in unity, but we have to work on it,” Martin told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “We have to build reconciliation among the different traditions on the island of Ireland.”

“The U.S. were critical to the success of peace and conflict resolution in Ireland,” Martin added.

IRISH PM REJECTS ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS IN IRELAND AMID DRAMATIC VOTE OVER BOYCOTTING ISRAEL GAME

President Donald Trump listens to Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin during their meeting in the Oval Office on March 17, 2026. Martin told Fox News Digital last month that the United States could potentially play a role in a future push for a united Ireland. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Martin spoke with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, describing the current moment as a global crossroads marked by war in Ukraine, Middle‑East turmoil, and ongoing talks over Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

Throughout the conversation, he repeatedly cited Ireland’s own conflict‑and‑peace experience as a framework for its approach to international crises, while upholding the nation’s longstanding policy of military neutrality even as it expands support for Ukraine.

The issue of Irish unity resurfaced during President Trump’s recent visit to Ireland last month, when he said he would “love” to see a united Ireland and predicted that it would eventually occur.

When asked by Fox News Digital whether Washington could again play a role if Ireland moves toward reunification, Martin responded: “To a degree, maybe, potentially, yes.”

Martin spoke shortly before the latest flare‑up over Garvaghy Road in Portadown, which rekindled one of Northern Ireland’s most contentious marching disputes and highlighted the enduring strength of nationalist‑unionist divisions.

Last month the Parades Commission authorized a limited Orange Order march along the predominantly nationalist Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years. Local residents and supporters blocked the route, and police opted not to enforce the parade, fearing serious disorder.

The Orange Order is a Protestant group whose members typically favor Northern Ireland staying within the United Kingdom, whereas many residents of the largely nationalist Garvaghy Road area, who are predominantly Catholic, support a united Ireland.

The standoff has since moved into the courts and Stormont, where the legislature convenes, as parties continue to seek a compromise.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, a referendum can be triggered if a majority in Northern Ireland appears to favor reunification. Martin cautioned, however, that considerable work remains to define what a united Ireland would entail and to deepen engagement on both sides of the border.

A van burns following the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on May 6, 1981. The image captures unrest during the Troubles, the decades-long conflict that preceded the Good Friday Agreement. (UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

IRISH PM SAYS IRELAND ‘NOT OVERRUN’ BY IMMIGRANTS, LEGAL MIGRATION TIED TO ECONOMIC SUCCESS

UKRAINE AND THE SEARCH FOR PEACE

For Martin, however, the lessons drawn from Northern Ireland’s peace process reach far beyond the island’s shores.

“Because of our conflict in Northern Ireland, we feel we can make a contribution to that conflict resolution pathway,” Martin said.

He explained that Ireland’s experience overcoming decades of violence now informs its approach to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Middle‑East conflict, and Europe’s increasingly uncertain security landscape.

“We don’t get a sense that Russia is really interested at this particular stage,” Martin said of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Martin, who had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the previous evening, nevertheless stressed that maintaining open channels between Washington and Moscow remains important.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, and President Donald Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner, right, and Steve Witkoff, left, meet in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sept. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Asked whether a realistic peace settlement would ultimately require Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia, Martin rejected the premise.

“Ukraine can’t cede territory that Russia hasn’t even conquered, despite four years of war,” Martin said.

But he said a ceasefire along existing battle lines could provide a starting point for negotiations.

“If we even could get a ceasefire on existing lines, and then negotiations to start,” Martin said, adding that Kyiv would need protections against renewed Russian aggression. “Ukraine needs security guarantees.”

Martin also pointed to Ukraine’s path toward European Union membership as potentially providing an additional layer of security and said the broader security architecture between Europe and Russia would ultimately have to be addressed in negotiations.

“From our perspective, no one has the right to go into another country and take its territory,” Martin said.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 24, 2026. Martin used his address to criticize Israel’s conduct in Gaza and Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. (Angela Weiss/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

HOW NEUTRAL IS IRELAND?

Ireland’s considerable support for Kyiv, however, raises a contentious domestic question: how far can a militarily neutral nation back one side in a conflict while preserving that neutrality?

Ireland has committed more than $754 million in humanitarian assistance, military training and other non-lethal support to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 while stopping short of providing lethal weapons.

Fox News Digital asked Martin whether that level of support undermined Ireland’s neutrality.

“No, because we don’t give lethal aid, we haven’t given military weaponry, but we have given non-lethal assistance in terms of training and so on like that, and also humanitarian aid to Ukraine,” Martin said.

Ireland has also welcomed large numbers of Ukrainians fleeing the war. Martin said that over 120,000 arrived at one point, with about 80,000 still residing in the country at the time of the interview.

“That’s not taking sides, that’s taking a humanitarian response to a war,” Martin said. “And many are contributing, many are working in the economy.”

Ireland’s neutrality has also faced scrutiny over the long-standing use of Shannon Airport by the U.S. military.

NATO’s top military commander, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, described Shannon in August as a “very important logistics hub” for the United States and said withdrawing American military access would probably damage U.S.-Irish relations.

The airport’s role has long drawn protests from Irish neutrality campaigners, who argue that allowing U.S. military personnel and aircraft to transit through a civilian airport undermines the country’s neutral status.

Despite differing approaches to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Martin described the U.S.-Ireland relationship in almost familial terms.

“There’s a very strong bond between Ireland and the United States,” Martin said.

He pointed to the long-standing tradition of Irish leaders visiting the White House on St. Patrick’s Day and the enormous Irish American diaspora, which he estimated at roughly 30 million people.

“It’s just family, there’s kinship ties,” Martin said.

MIDDLE EAST

Martin said Ireland’s peace‑process experience also shapes its approach to the Middle East, where Dublin has become one of Israel’s most vocal European critics.

He condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack and defended Israel’s right to security while arguing that the subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza had been “absolutely disproportionate.”

“We believe in a two-state solution,” Martin said. “We believe that Israel, of course, has a right to exist in security and its people need to be guaranteed of security. But likewise, Palestinians should have a right to live in their homeland in a peaceful way.”

Martin said Ireland’s strongly anti-Israel position was shaped partly by its own history and what he described as a “sense of right and justice and fairness.”

WATCH: Irish PM explains Ireland’s position on Israel, rejects antisemitism concerns amid controversial soccer match

TRUMP’S INVESTMENT PUSH HITS EUROPE AS IRISH PM EYES NEXT TARIFF BREAK

EUROPE’S SECURITY

Ireland currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, positioning Martin at the heart of negotiations as Europe faces its most significant security challenges in decades.

“There’s a big realization in Europe that we have to do more to provide greater security to Europe, particularly because of the Russian-Ukrainian war,” Martin said.

He pointed particularly to Baltic and Nordic countries, whose governments have increased defense spending amid fears about Russia.

“Many have an existential fear of Russia,” Martin said.

Martin noted that Europe is also tightening its approach to immigration, echoing his earlier remark that asylum applications have fallen across Ireland and that governments continent‑wide are responding to rising political pressure.

For Martin, these challenges — ranging from Ukraine and the Middle East to Ireland’s own unfinished constitutional future — ultimately lead back to the lessons he believes his country has drawn from decades of conflict and the ensuing peace process.

“The world needs to try and turn a page toward a more peaceful sort of coexistence,” Martin said.

WATCH: Irish PM explains how Ireland is responding to Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda

Source link