THERE IS no timescale for the unification of Ireland, the Taoiseach told an audience of students and academics in Beijing yesterday.

Enda Kenny had finished giving an address at Tsinghua University on “Ireland and China in a Changing World” when a member of the audience asked him whether there was a “time schedule” for all-island unity.

The questioner said: “If I’m not mistaken, the Irish governments have made unremitting efforts to unify [with] the six counties in Northern Ireland. Do you have a time schedule, and what progress have you made, because China is facing the same issues?”

The questioner is thought to have been referring to the long-term controversy of China’s relationship with Taiwan, as well as the issue of Tibetan self-rule.

Mr Kenny quipped it would take a long time to answer: “This gentleman does not want me to go home at all.” On a serious note, he said: “Your question is obviously a very valid question: as you know, Ireland was a country that was ruled by Britain for 700 years.

“In the early part of the 20th century, Ireland achieved its independence but, following a very divisive treaty, six counties of the northeastern portion of Ireland remained under direct rule from Britain. This continued for very many years until the early 1970s, when social unrest and political activity brought this to a head.

“Three thousand people died in riots on the streets, shootings, murders, terrorist activities, and this was all eventually brought to a conclusion by dialogue and direct discussion between factions that would not speak to each other for a very long period. It culminated in what we call the Agreement, signed on behalf of both governments and all of the parties in the Northern Ireland area.”

Mr Kenny said that, under the agreement’s terms, “if the peoples North and South were to decide by a referendum on the one day as to whether to have an island entity, an all-island, all-Ireland entity or not, that the governments would abide by these decisions”.

He pointed out that “for now, peace reigns throughout the island of Ireland”, and an elected Assembly and powersharing Executive with devolved powers were in place in Northern Ireland.

“So there isn’t a timescale here,” the Taoiseach said. “There is a recognition that the most important thing has been peace.”

In his address earlier, Mr Kenny said Ireland wanted to intensify co-operation with China, and he foresaw great mutual benefits as a result. Political relations between the two governments were flourishing: “Ireland has always fully followed a one-China policy, and Ireland strongly supports the further development of EU-China relationships . . . While we support China’s choice of its development plan, I am pleased that we can and will co-operate and discuss, in a friendly and respectful way, issues such as human rights.”

Before returning home, Mr Kenny said access he had gained to key leaders was “extraordinary for a small country”. He said it was clear the Chinese government understood Ireland was “heading in a direction of confidence where we can restore our economic sovereignty”.