President Connolly says Trump asked about united Ireland

President Catherine Connolly has said US President Donald Trump asked her if she believed Ireland would be united during her lifetime.

Ms Connolly also defended her sister's right to protest at Mr Trump's visit at the weekend, but said she might have chosen "different words".

The two presidents met on Saturday at Áras an Uachtaráin.

At his next engagement, Mr Trump weighed in on the constitutional question by claiming Irish unification was inevitable.

Answering a question from the Press Association, Mr Trump said he "would love to see" Ireland unified, adding: "It’s going to happen eventually."

President Connolly spoke to the media during her visit to Scotland where she was asked if she or the US President had first raised the issue of Irish unity.

She said: "It was a long meeting. Actually, it was 20 minutes plus. It was a very polite meeting, and the president listened.

"He did some talk, the initial talk was on golf, and then I referred to my role under the Constitution, which I had with me, and it's a very interesting little book on our Constitution.

"And my role is set out there, and I discussed that with him, and the obligation on us under Article 29 in particular in relation to resolving disputes peacefully.

"We had an interesting discussion on that."

She added: "He asked me my thoughts on the North (Northern Ireland), and I referred back to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and consensus.

"And again, it was handy to have the Constitution because that’s set out in our Constitution that that issue will be resolved through consent.

"He asked me specifically, would it be resolved during my lifetime and I said I hoped it would.

"He made a joke about age, but a complimentary joke I might add, but we went back to the issue in relation to that, I would like to see it in my lifetime.

"But I went back a number of times to the constitution."

Ms Connolly was asked about comments made by her sister Margaret in protest at the visit of the US President.

Dr Margaret Connolly, speaking to CNN, said: "Take these 60 million tonnes of crap that they have bombed Gaza to rubble, take the rubble home, put it on the White House, and flatten your bloody White House."

President Connolly said "everybody is entitled to their opinion".

She added: "And I agree with the Taoiseach when he said everybody has a right to protest.

"I think perhaps on a general level, it'S the feeling it's been reflected by people when they protest of their horror at what's happening, and I think that’s fair to say for all of us."

Asked if she had spoken to her sister since, President Connolly said: "I understand her horror at what’s happening, absolutely understand her horror.

"I might choose different words, but the horror, the message of what’s happening is important to hear, and we have the duty to call out what’s happening, no matter where, and to deal with that."

Asked if she had used the word "genocide" during the meeting with Mr Trump, President Connolly said: "We discussed genocide. We discussed that we can never accept genocide, and we can never accept the normalisation of war.

"Absolutely, we discussed that."

President Connolly also described a "very interesting" meeting she had with Britain's King Charles.

She had a private meeting with him at Dumfries House in East Ayrshire yesterday evening.

"It was a very interesting meeting. It was a private meeting. It followed on a particular conference," she said.

A reception on Harmony in Food and Farming had taken place at Dumfries House earlier, hosted by the King's Foundation.

The President said the King’s Foundation, which was set up in 1990, "encompasses so much", including "agriculture, sustainability, flooding, AI, democracy and the importance of democracy".

"It was very, very interesting."

President Connolly also responded to Ursula von der Leyen's state of the union speech in Brussels where she announced the prospect of a security council of Europe.

"I’m concerned at the language I must say, in relation to the threats against peace on the continent of Europe are increasing.

"I would have concern that the language in relation to war is intensifying and the absence of diplomatic measure to stop war and to bring peace is of deep concern to me and I would say the majority of the people of Ireland."

Additional reporting Seán Mac an tSíthigh