Harris says people should be prepared to talk about shape of a new Ireland

The Tanaiste was commenting after his Fine Gael party’s candidate for the Irish presidency, Heather Humphreys, suggested unification could involve the retention of a devolved parliament at Stormont.

Ms Humphreys insisted that people in Northern Ireland who have a British identity had “nothing to fear” from constitutional change, as the Presbyterian from Co Monaghan highlighted her own experience as part of a “minority community” in the Republic of Ireland.

Her remarks came on the same morning that political leaders from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland gathered in Dublin for a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council.

At a post-meeting press conference, Mr Harris, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-