Enda Kenny: Bertie Ahern ‘wrong’ to say Ireland entitled to negotiate with Britain on Brexit

Enda Kenny has said former taoiseach Bertie Ahern was “wrong” to say Ireland is entitled to negotiate with Britain on Brexit.

Appearing before the Seanad Brexit committee, Mr Ahern said Ireland has “every right” to bilaterally negotiate with the UK on certain issues and we only have a short window of opportunity to act on the Good Friday Agreement.

He added: “For the life of me I don’t understand or accept the argument that we’re precluded from those issues.” However, Mr Kenny claimed Mr Ahern’s comments were not correct.

“He is wrong and I respect the work that Bertie Ahern did when he was taoiseach in respect of the Good Friday Agreement.”

The Taoiseach added he had discussed the Northern Ireland situation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel when they met on Thursday but he stressed the Government is “not asking Europe for anything that is not already there” in the Good Friday Agreement.

Speaking in Berlin, Mr Kenny added: “It’s written into the agreement voted on North and South by the people, enshrined in an internationally legally binding agreement and lodged in the UN. What I am clear about is that in the context of the Good Friday Agreement if the people in Northern Ireland by consent at some time in the future decide that they should join with the Republic to have a United Ireland we want what is already contained in the Good Friday Agreement as part of the negotiated outcome by the European union. We are not asking them for anything that is not already there. This is a different situation altogether than applies to Gibraltar.”

He said he mentioned the possibility of a united Ireland to Ms Merkel in the context of the reunification East Germany. “That’s the precedent that I used. It’s one that obviously enabled East Germany to easily join the EU when the wall came down in 1989.”

Mr Kenny said Ms Merkel had asked “quite a lot of questions”on the impact Brexit will have on Ireland and Northern Ireland.