Andy Burnham has said a united Ireland referendum is “off the table”, during his first visit to Northern Ireland since becoming prime minister.

“We’ve got to focus on bringing people together as best we can, and I think we’ve lived through a decade where there’s been a referendum on Brexit, we had Scottish independence just before it,” he said.

He said the “rifts that come from those situations take a long time to heal, and it sets you right back and you can’t focus on what’s right in front of us here and now”.

Burnham is spending time in Belfast hearing from young people before meeting Stormont’s first and deputy first ministers.

He is also due to meet leaders from the Northern Ireland Assembly’s main parties, during which Downing Street said he would encourage “problem-solving, not points-scoring”.

His visit comes amid calls from Stormont’s power-sharing executive for increased funding from the government to ease budget pressures.

Speaking to BBC News NI, he said he was here to “listen, and I will take a collaborative approach but some issues will be off the table, and that [a referendum on a united Ireland] is one issue that will be off the table”.

“A decade since the Brexit referendum, we’ve had too much division, too much arguing, too much, backward looking. We need to fix the things right in front of us in the here and now.”

Speaking earlier, Burnham said that people in Northern Ireland “want more breathing space from the cost of living, good, well-paid jobs and opportunities for their children”.

“Political point scoring in the past has made this harder, not easier,” he said in a statement about his trip.

“We need to be better, so I want to work with the Northern Ireland Executive and the main political parties to try and make a real difference to communities here, and that’s the message I’ll be taking into my meetings later.”

The four-party coalition has yet to set a budget nearly five months into the financial year.

Stormont departments are facing a shortfall of up to £1.6bn, external, according to a spending watchdog.

With no agreed plan, public services have been operating under contingency arrangements.

Burnham was also asked about the recent High Court ruling to quash a decision by the Parades Commission to impose restrictions on an Orange Order parade in Drumcree.

He said: “I know the Northern Ireland Secretary has met the chair of the parades commission in the last 24, 48 hours, and has addressed the confidence issues that there are.

“The matters raised will have a resolution and confidence will be restored.”

He said he understands that the stakes are high around Drumcree, but it requires a calm and measured approach, and that is what the government will take.

He added that it is not for him to say whether or not the commissioners resign.

Speaking ahead of Burnham’s visit, First Minister Michelle O’Neill called for a “fair budget settlement that actually works for public services”.

“The reality is that we are so underfunded – have been for years,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

“If Andy Burnham wants to make a difference, then he can make a difference by actually changing the funding arrangement, because what we have currently does not cut it.”

Talks between Treasury officials and the executive have been taking place over the summer.

On Monday, Northern Ireland secretary Sir Chris Bryant said it was “shocking” that a Stormont budget had yet to be agreed.

He said the executive could consider more “self-help” in the form of revenue-raising, but where there are “significant” budgetary pressures he wanted to be able to help.

Before the prime minister meets politicians he will hear from young people about the issues that impact their lives and their aspirations for the future.

This will include the prime minister speaking to teenagers and staff involved in mentoring schemes within Belfast’s creative music scene – which seeks to elevate local artists and promote the city as a UNESCO City of Music.

“People in Northern Ireland want more breathing space from the cost of living, good, well-paid jobs and opportunities for their children,” he said.

“Political point-scoring in the past has made this harder, not easier. We need to be better, so I want to work with the Northern Ireland Executive and the main political parties to try and make a real difference to communities here, and that’s the message I’ll be taking into my meetings later,” he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Burnham travelled to south Wales – his first official visit to the country since he became prime minister.

Before the trip Burnham announced plans to bring together the leaders of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the autumn for a summit to help boost the UK economy.