Taoiseach Simon Harris and British prime minister Keir Starmer today agreed to restart a series of annual summits next March, with both men hailing a “reset” in relations between Ireland and the UK after the public divisions of the Brexit era.
The taoiseach welcomed the British prime minister to Farmleigh House in Dublin today, where the two men had a working lunch before meeting a number of business leaders.
They departed Farmleigh at 4pm to attend the Ireland-England football match at Lansdowne Road.
Mr Harris welcomed Mr Starmer on the steps of the mansion earlier this morning, the two leaders walked in the gardens of Farmleigh for a number of photo opportunities. They met nine-year old Freddie Munnelly from Castleknock in Dublin and his family, who has received two liver transplants in London.
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They received Ireland and England scarves from the Munnelly family and exchanged Ireland and England football jerseys.
[ ‘A la carte’ new Brexit deal with EU not on table, Micheál Martin warnsOpens in new window ]
Later, sitting in the library at the State guest house, Mr Harris welcomed “Dear Keir” and said they had the opportunity to “really place British and Irish relations on a new path”. He said that the two men would “flesh out what a reset looks like”.
Mr Starmer also pointed to a “moment of reset” and said they would “put meaning behind those words”. He pointed to the two governments’ “joint role” in implementing the Belfast Agreement and to the similar positions on Ukraine and Gaza, where he said both governments wanted to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and the transfer of aid to Gaza “so we can step down the path towards a two-state solution”.
He said the fact that this was their second meeting, when he was only eight or nine weeks in office, showed the determination of both governments to improve relations.
After a working lunch, the two leaders hosted a round table for business figures, including Ibec’s Danny McCoy, AIB chief Colin Hunt and Caroline Keeling from Keelings. Addressing the group, Mr Starmer said there was a strong foundation of trade and shared economic interests.
Mr Starmer said economic growth was his “number one priority” as prime minister, and that his Government would make “difficult, tough decisions very early on” to stabilise the British economy.
He said that the relationship with Ireland was “hugely important” to him . . . “This has always mattered to me,” he said.
[ ‘From friction to friendship’: Harris, Starmer pledge Anglo-Irish resetOpens in new window ]
Mr Starmer appealed to the business leaders present to be “very frank” which he said would “help us to reset this relationship”.
The leaders did not hold a press conference after their meeting, but issued a joint statement in which they said they agreed an “ambitious reset of the UK-Ireland relationship.”
They also covered the UK’s intention to reset its relationship with the EU and discussed “urgent global issues, including the situation in Ukraine and in Gaza”, the statement said.
They agreed to begin a series of annual summits next March, which they said would focus on four areas: security and global issues; climate, energy and technology; growth, trade and investment; culture, education and “people to people connections”.
Today’s meeting, they said, “marked the start of an ambitious programme of work to be taken forward by Ministers and their departments to deliver a renewed and strengthened partnership.”
Later officials said the two men had discussed a range of issues, including how disinformation online had been a spark for riots in Dublin last year, and recently in Belfast and elsewhere in the UK. There was a brief discussion on the Casement Park project in Belfast but no conclusions reached.
There was no substantive discussion of the replacement of the controversial Northern Ireland Legacy Act, though the Irish side remains content that the Act will be replaced, and remains committed to dropping the legal action taken by the Irish Government over the act in the European Court of Human Rights.
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