United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer began the first visit by a British leader to Ireland in five years, aiming to “reset” the relationship with the island nation and the broader European Union (EU).
Starmer held talks with Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, less than two months after hosting the Irish PM at his Chequers country residence following the Labour Party’s win in UK’s general election.
The two leaders in a joint article for The Irish Times emphasised that they were moving “from friction back to friendship”.
“It is the moment for reset. It’s when we put meaning behind those words,” Starmer told Harris at the Farmleigh Estate. The estate is the former residence of the Guinness family on the outskirts of Dublin.
Britain’s decision to leave the EU after its 2016 Brexit referendum, strained Anglo-Irish relations significantly.
Downing Street described Starmer’s visit to Ireland as a “historic moment for UK-Ireland relations”, and signalled further warming in bilateral ties that had frayed under Britain’s previous Conservative Party-led government.
The UK PM emphasised that he wants better ties with EU states, and further hopes to improve diplomatic and trade relations without revisiting the fundamental basis of Britain’s departure from the 27-nation bloc.
Starmer’s Irish counterpart welcomed him to Dublin and the two leaders were seen shaking hands and posing for photographs before heading for talks.
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“Today we’re in Dublin to flesh out what a reset actually looks like… in a practical sense for our citizens on both islands,” Harris said at the beginning of the talks.
He added, “And I certainly know that it has to be embedded in things like peace, prosperity, mutual respect, and friendship.”
Meanwhile, Starmer said that the reset in the relationship between the two countries was “really important to me and my government”.
“(It) can be meaningful. It can be deep,” he said.
“This moment represents a fundamental shift in our bilateral relationship. With the Brexit debates behind us, we’re moving from friction back to friendship,” Harris and Starmer said in a joint article for The Irish Times.
(With inputs from agencies)