Donald Trump has waded in to one of the west’s most sensitive political topics by declaring he would “love to see” a united Ireland during a trip to the Emerald Isle.The US President was in Dublin for a two-day visit to golf and promote his business interests, marked by his off-the-cuff diplomacy causing another stir. He caught his Irish hosts and neighbouring ally Britain off-guard on Saturday, local time, when he gave his take on touchy political territory by announcing he supported uniting the independent EU member the Republic of Ireland and UK member Northern Ireland.Breaking with Washington’s traditional neutrality on the historically-charged topic, Mr Trump argued reunification of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – after over a century apart – was “going to happen eventually”. “I don’t want to cause any problems, but I will tell you, I’d love to see it unified. I have friends on both sides, great people,” he said.“They’re Irish people. How can they be bad, right? I’d love to see it unified. I think it would be a great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened. “Now the UK will have something to say about it, obviously, but I think it would be a great thing. I mean, how can it be bad?”“It may as well happen now,” he also ventured as he met Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, prompting pushback from pro-UK loyalists in Northern Ireland and some leading politicians in mainland Britain. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham insisted last month that a unity referendum was “off the table”, drawing a sharp response from the pro-unity party Sinn Fein. The island of Ireland has been split between the Irish republic in the south and Northern Ireland since 1921. Political and sectarian violence marred life in Northern Ireland for decades in a 30-year nationalist conflict known as The Troubles, which at times spilt over the border and overseas.Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland that killed about 3000 people, a referendum can be held if the UK government determines a majority there is likely to favour joining the Republic of Ireland. Republic of Ireland voters would also have to endorse reunification in a poll for it to happen. The US has previously adopted a neutral position on the issue. Unification remains, ironically, a divisive issue with a 2024 poll showing 64 per cent of Republic voters would support the move but only 34 per cent of Northern Irish voters would do the same.Asked about Mr Trump’s comments, a spokesperson for Mr Burnham’s Downing Street office referred reporters to comments Burnham made in parliament on Wednesday when he vowed to “stick to the Good Friday Agreement 100 per cent”. Within hours of his surprise intervention on the issue, Mr Trump had touched down in Doonbeg, on the country’s west coast, where his Trump Organisation-owned golf course is hosting the Irish Open. The American leader will attend the tournament on Sunday – the main reason for the trip – before departing for Washington later that day. Mr Martin assured him at Saturday’s meeting that Doonbeg’s 784 residents were “very grateful” for the Trump Organisation’s investment there after it bought the site in 2014, noting his family were “welcome” there. The US President is joined in the remote corner of Ireland by his two sons, Eric and Don Jr, who have managed the family business since their 80-year-old father returned to the White House last year. Read related topics:Donald Trump