UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday began the first visit by a British leader to Ireland in five years, vowing to “reset” damaged post-Brexit relations between the two nations.
The visit, described by Downing Street as a “historic moment for UK-Ireland relations”, signals a further warming in bilateral ties that had frayed under the UK’s previous Conservative government.
Irish counterpart Simon Harris welcomed Starmer to Dublin, with the pair shaking hands and posing for photographs before heading for talks.
“Today we’re 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.
“And I certainly know that it has to be embedded in things like peace, prosperity, mutual respect and friendship.”
Starmer added that the reset was “really important to me and my government”.
“(It) can be meaningful. It can be deep,” he said.
Both leaders stressed the importance of their joint roles as guardians of the Good Friday Agreement, the landmark peace accord brokered in 1998 that ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
Boosting economic growth was also due to be high on the agenda, as well as the joint response to international crises, where Harris said the two leaders “were aligned in so many ways”.
Harris, who became taioseach (prime minister) in April, was the first international leader hosted by Starmer in the UK after his landslide election win in July.
The pair chatted over pints of Ireland’s national drink, Guinness, at the British prime minister’s country residence, Chequers, northwest of London, before a larger meeting of European leaders.
– Shift in tone –
The focus on “resetting” Anglo-Irish relations marks a notable shift in language after the last few years saw tensions rise between Dublin and London.
Britons narrowly voted to exit the European Union in a referendum in 2016 and the country finally left the bloc in 2020 after years of political division and stalemate.
Conservative former prime minister Boris Johnson’s hard break from the EU was widely seen as destabilising relations between EU member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.
Since taking power, Starmer has moved to begin the repeal of a law granting conditional immunity to perpetrators of crimes during Northern Ireland’s decades of sectarian violence.
The move has been fiercely opposed by relatives of those who lost their lives in “The Troubles”.
During Saturday’s encounter, the leaders were expected to reaffirm the Good Friday Agreement and their commitment to reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
Starmer was also scheduled to meet Irish business leaders in Dublin and encourage enhanced bilateral trade and investment.
The two leaders were expected to confirm that they are seeking a more formal post-EU mode of engagement that Harris said “will mean working on a joint plan to bring about a step-change in ambition and engagement”, according to Irish broadcaster RTE.
Starmer and Harris were to attend the Ireland versus England Nations’ League football match on Saturday evening.
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