DOONBEG,june 06:
Donald Trump, arriving in Ireland for the first time as U.S. president on Wednesday, sought to reassure the country that Britain`s exit from the European Union would work out fine for its near neighbour. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar used a meeting with Trump, who has been a vocal supporter of Brexit, to underline Ireland`s concerns over the departure that could affect it more than any other country remaining in the 28-member bloc. How to keep EU-member Ireland`s currently seamless 500-km (350-mile) border with Northern Ireland open after Brexit and ensure it does not jeopardise two decades of peace in the British province is proving the most intractable issue in Britain`s tortuous efforts to leave the EU.Before meeting Varadkar on his arrival at Shannon Airport, Trump said he expected the premier would ask him about Brexit and it would all work out “very well” for Ireland. “The way it (the border) works now is good; you want to try and keep it that way and I know that`s a big point of contention with respect to Brexit. I`m sure it`s going to work out well,” Trump told reporters.Trump also told Varadkar the problem with “your wall, your border” was similar to the border situation in the United States, before the Irish prime minister jumped in to say the main thing Dublin wanted to avoid was a border or a wall between both sides.Some 3,600 people were killed during Northern Ireland`s “Troubles”, a sectarian conflict between mainly Protestant unionists, who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, and predominantly Catholic Irish nationalists. The 1998 Good Friday peace deal, which the United States helped broker, largely ended the violence.While Trump on Tuesday promised Britain a “phenomenal” post-Brexit trade deal, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi used a visit to both sides of the Irish border last month to warn that her fellow lawmakers would not agree any such deal if Brexit ends up undermining peace in Ireland. After he and Trump met, Varadkar said the president understood Brexit cannot result in the return of a hard border on the island. He added the timing of their meeting was important as Trump would have heard “a certain story” from pro-Brexit lawmakers during the first stop-off of his European trip in Britain.”He wants to keep that (the border) open and believes that can be done. We didn`t go into any particular details as to how he thinks that can be done but he understands that has to be a shared objective,” Varadkar said. Trump said in his remarks that Ireland and the United States have a great relationship, “as good as it`s been”.
