ARLENE Foster has indicated that she would leave the country in the event of a united Ireland.
During her interview with RTÉ's Tommie Gorman she said she would not feel "comfortable" living in an all-Ireland state, echoing comments she made in 2018.
“Rationally and objectively there is no argument for a united Ireland” – Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster speaks about the possibility of a united Ireland with Tommie Gorman in an in-depth interview. pic.twitter.com/pM2Cegj80a
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 28, 2021
Speaking then to comedian Patrick Kielty for a documentary on marking 20 years since the Good Friday Agreement, the DUP leader said she "was not sure if she would be able to continue to live here" if there was unification.
In that same interview, she added: "It's not going to happen so I don't have to worry about it any time soon."
Referring to that Sligo-born Mr Gorman told the first minister that he was her "neighbour" as she was from Co Fermanagh.
He said: "I like to think that whatever comes in the future that you would stay here and you would feel welcome here. You would have the right to remain comfortable here."
Nodding at what he said, Mrs Foster added: "I don't think that I would feel comfortable and that's why I think I would leave, because what's the point of staying in a place where you don't feel comfortable and your identity would not be something that would be respected?"
"I can't see how I can be British and live in the place that I love, Fermanagh, if I was in a united Ireland, because by the very definition, you are no longer British because you're living in an all-Ireland state."
