Andy Burnham has a lot of Irish roots - will he play on them during his visit?

Prime Minister Andy Burnham was quick to talk up his proud Irish roots on his last visit to Northern Ireland and we can expect more of the same this time.

Back then, the Mayor of Manchester was still plotting his route to Westminister when he addressed the Alliance Party conference in March.

"If only my ancestors who left Drogheda for Liverpool in the late 1800s could see me now," he told delegates in Belfast before going on to say: "It's nice to feel wanted by a political party."

That was a pointed dig at the then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who was trying to block Burnham's pathway to No 10.

Much has changed in the six months since then.

Now Burnham is back in Northern Ireland as prime minister and expect his Irish heritage to feature once more.

He may mention that his father Roy is a Protestant and his mother Eileen is Catholic.

A former altar boy, Burnham has said his Catholic upbringing had a big impact on his life.

In fact, he once said his three biggest influences growing up were Everton Football Club, Labour and the Catholic Church.

His Irish roots on his mother's side also helped shape his political outlook.

He has often talked about his great-grandfather Edmund "Ned" Burke who lived in Drogheda before emigrating with his family to Liverpool in the late 19th Century.

Like so many who made the same journey, he worked in the docks and was deeply involved in Liverpool's Irish Catholic community.

He also fought in World War One after joining the King's Liverpool Regiment but was captured by the Germans just months after being deployed to the front line.

He spent two years in captivity before he died at the age of 34 in 1918 shortly before the end of the war.

In a speech ahead of the Brexit referendum in 2016, Burnham recalled his great-grandfather's sacrifice and said he would have urged them to learn the lessons of the past.

"Breaking away from any group is always a recipe for confrontation and conflict," he said

He added the best way to honour his great-grandfather was to carry on fighting for "a more united and less nationalistic Europe".

But Burnham's Irish heritage stretched beyond the Burkes in Drogheda.

Back in 2008, staff at Liverpool Central Library researched his Irish roots when he was culture secretary.

In Christmas that year he recalled sitting down with his family and a bottle of whiskey to study their findings.

They established family links with the Finnemores and Kellys from different parts of Northern Ireland, and there were also family connections from Donegal and Mayo.

Away from this family links he has also been greatly influenced by Irish musicians such as the Pogues, Christy Moore and the Undertones.

He has even played guitar as former Undertones front man Feargal Sharkey performed their greatest hit, Teenage Kicks.

During his time as mayor of Manchester, Burnham worked closely with the Irish diaspora and attended many cultural events.

He also visited Dublin many times meeting the then President Michael Higgins and other leading politicians as he sought to improve Anglo-Irish relations post Brexit.

But Burnham will also be well aware of the political pit falls when questioned about such sensitive topics as Irish reunification and a border poll.

Expect him to sidestep such tricky questions and instead talk up the importance of building relationships and respecting the Good Friday Agreement.

But he may find it harder to avoid questions about providing more financial support for the Stormont Executive and he will be reminded of something else he told delegates at the Alliance conference.

That all the nations and regions should get the maximum level of devolved funding from Westminster to achieve growth and deliver better living standards for their people.

But that was message delivered by Andy Burnham the political outcast and not by Andy Burnham the prime minister.