LONDON (UK) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit Northern Ireland on Thursday to hold talks on the need to strengthen the union between the UK’s constituent nations and also pledge a strong rebound from the pandemic crisis.
He is slated to meet the new Northern Ireland Prime Minister Micheal Martin for the first time since the government was formed in June.
Johnson wants to bolster ties with Norther Ireland which were badly strained by haggling over Brexit.
“As the country begins to get back on its feet in the wake of coronavirus, we cannot simply strive to rebuild, but we must commit to building back stronger than ever,” he said in a statement.
In Northern Ireland, views on quitting the UK are still split on sectarian lines with many Roman Catholics favouring union with the Irish Republic while pro-Britain Protestants want the status quo to remain.
The sectarian divide led to three decades of bloodshed which finally came to an end with the 1998 Good Friday peace treaty.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field