UK PRIME MINISTER Andy Burnham has said he’s “very aware of every word in the Good Friday Agreement”.

It follows backlash over his comments made in Belfast last week, when he told reporters a referendum on a united Ireland is “off the table”.

It was his first official visit to Northern Ireland, which came as the parties continued to fail to agree a budget for the region for this financial year, arguing they need more funding from London.

When asked by the media whether he would be “the man at number 10 to press the button for a border poll”, Burnham said he was there “to listen and take a collaborative approach”.

But he added: “Some issues will be off the table, and that is one issue that will be off the table.”

This was promptly met with condemnation from Sinn Féin, who met with the prime minister in Belfast after his comments.

The party’s leader Mary Lou McDonald said there was “robust” exchange as she highlighted the right to a referendum on Irish unity is enshrined in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

“To mark his first visit to Ireland with such divisive and ill-informed comments, that fly in the face of the Good Friday Agreement, is totally unacceptable,” she stated. 

Fianna Fáil junior minister Niamh Smyth said she “categorically and fundamentally” disagreed with Burnham’s position, and former UK prime minister Gordon Brown even weighed in, saying in an interview that it is inevitable that one day Ireland will be united.

Asked about the comments in the House of Commons today, Burnham said the purpose of his visit was “to get functional government in Stormont”.

It was put to Burnham by a Scottish National Party MP that he “has no mandate to defy the constitutional wishes of the people of Northern Ireland, the people of Scotland or the people of Wales”.

Burnham then told the Commons that he had answered a media question while visiting Northern Ireland, saying that it was framed as there being a proposal in subsequent political meetings on the trip on a border poll.

“My answer was that the purpose of the visit was to get functional government in Stormont because, in my view, that would most serve the people of Northern Ireland right now – and I wasn’t there to distract onto other issues.

“I’m very aware of every word in the Good Friday Agreement. I will stick to it 100% as prime minister.”

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He said the Good Friday Agreement is “quite clear on the circumstances” when the issue of a border poll arises.

“But our common challenge right now is functional government in Stormont and I believe everybody should work together to achieve that,” he continued, adding that he had asked Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant “to support that process”.

The Good Friday Agreement specifies that Bryant can decide to hold a border poll, also saying there is a duty to call one if it appears likely a majority would vote for Irish unification.

The people of Ireland must also vote in favour to effect constitutional change.

Bryant previously said that a border poll is “not top on the list of my priorities”. 

Additional reporting by Press Association