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Irish Studies Students Meet Former Irish PM

In advance of a packed public meeting on the future of Anglo-Irish relations at Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre a group of Irish Studies undergraduate students from St Mary's University College, Twickenham, were invited to a private meeting with former Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern to discuss current political issues.
 
Subjects covered included recent political violence in Northern Ireland, the plight of Irish born pensioners living in poverty in Britain and the likely impact of the re-introduction of university tuition fees in the Republic. 
 
Mr Ahern said that the goal of a united Ireland in the students' lifetime must be based on the principle of consent in both parts of Ireland. Mr Ahern also rejected Sinn Fein's target date of unity by the date of the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising as "totally unrealistic".
 
The private audience with Mr Ahern was followed by his lecture on the positive relationship between Britain and Ireland following the peace process and the establishment of devolved government in Northern Ireland.