The President of the United States, Donald Trump, defended this Saturday that the reunification of the Republic of Ireland with Northern Ireland "will eventually happen," during a meeting with the Irish Prime Minister, Micheál Martin, in Dublin. Trump said he "would love to see Ireland unified" and that it "would be a fantastic thing," although he acknowledged that the United Kingdom will also have a say on the matter.
Northern Ireland was historically divided between two communities: the nationalists, mostly Catholics, who desired union with the rest of Ireland, and the unionists, mostly Protestants, who wanted to remain British. Tensions between these two factions dragged on for three decades of confrontations.
In 1998, a peace agreement ended the conflict in Northern Ireland, but left the final status of the region undefined. The agreement kept Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, but established that its future status can be decided by referendum if the majority so desires.
Also on this Saturday, Trump met with the President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, who is critical of the Trump administration's policies.
