Thursday was a significant and busy day for me, with engagements both at home in Londonderry and down in Dublin that night.

On Thursday morning, I met with the President of the Republic as part of her visit to Northern Ireland.

During her election campaign, President Connolly stated that her first official visit outside the Republic of Ireland would be to Northern Ireland. That commitment was fulfilled in terms of geography, but the tone and content of the visit to the North West raised concerns for many within the unionist community.

Throughout the visit, the President repeatedly referred to the city as Derry without even a token reference to ‘Londonderry’ or to recognise that unionists are an integral part of the city’s identity and history.

The main speech was delivered on the west bank of Londonderry, an area which just as the Troubles were starting was home to both Protestant and Catholic communities. During those Troubles Protestant families were systematically intimidated out of the area, through murder and sustained threat, to the extent that Protestants today make up less than 5% of the 60,000 population on the West Bank.

While the President understandably acknowledged the suffering endured by Catholics in Londonderry during the Troubles, there was no reference to the intimidation and displacement experienced by Protestants in the same area of the city where she was making the speech.  

For many unionists, this represented a missed opportunity for genuine reconciliation and balance. Instead it amounted to a diplomatic faux pas that failed to recognise the full complexity of Londonderry’s past.

Whilst the President apologised to me on Thursday, I couldn’t help but think afterwards how our late Queen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, gave an exemplar in reconciliation during her 2011 visit to the Republic of Ireland while the Irish President missed the opportunity to do likewise on her visit to Northern Ireland.

Later that evening, I travelled to Dublin to take part in a major debate at University College Dublin, hosted by the UCD Literary & Historical Society, attended by almost 200 students.

In that debate, I robustly but respectfully challenged the claim that a border-poll and its outcome would be inevitable.

I set out the case that Northern Ireland only succeeds when it recognises all its people, British, Irish, Northern Irish, and those who identify somewhere in between. I also highlighted that those advocating the abolition of Northern Ireland continue to leave fundamental questions unanswered, particularly around consent, economics, security and identity.

The debate was well received and underlined that many of the myths surrounding Northern Ireland’s future remain untested and unproven.

The debate was chaired by former Tánaiste in Ireland Michael McDowell and in summing up he rightly reminded those arguing for a border-poll that its outcome could be more of a nightmare than a dream.

It also reinforced the DUP’s long-standing position that progress comes not from trying to get rid of Northern Ireland, but from making it work for everyone who lives here.

Whilst Michelle O’Neill, under questioning from my colleague Phillip Brett MLA, said that she will consistently argue for a border poll, its high time Sinn Fein focused on the issues that matter to people in Northern Ireland such as the reforms needed in our planning system, our water system and our health service.

A border poll is a diversion so let’s focus on making Northern Ireland work.

Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Gregory Campbell CBE MP

East Londonderry