United Ireland should be more than an 'aspiration' for parties contesting Irish election - Varadkar

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said parties contesting the forthcoming elections in the Republic should step up their commitment to a United Ireland.

Mr Varadkar said that political parties contesting the next Irish general election should have in their manifestos a commitment to create a United Ireland as an "objective" rather than an "aspiration".

The former Taoiseach was speaking during an event at Derry's Playhouse theatre hosted by the SDLP's New Ireland Commission.

Varadkar, who is not seeking re-election, said he would like to see all parties dedicate a section of their manifestos to making Irish unity "not just an aspiration but an objective".

He said the next Irish government should boost funding in the state’s existing Shared Island initiative and also set up its own commission to examine reunification.

He also insisted that a new Ireland would have to be “co-designed” along with those of a British identity.

Varadkar made clear that the views he expressed at Thursday's event were his own and not those of his party, Fine Gael.

Days earlier, Mary-Lou McDonald made calls to deepen the conversation around reunification at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference.

She told crowds in Liverpool that a border poll referendum should be held by the end of the decade.

"Crucially, it means a mature, confident and pragmatic approach to managing constitutional change between Dublin and London", she said.

Junior Northern Ireland minister, Fleur Anderson later indicated that holding a border poll was not a priority for the new Labour government.“No border poll is imminent. In my opinion, there are many other things that we should be working on and it's down to more what Colum said about building that case in Northern Ireland if it's going to be. It’s not a priority for us", she said.

Catch up with the latest UTV Live on ITVX

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.