British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has met with his Irish counterpart Simon Harris in Dublin in a visit described as a reset between the two countries.
Starmer's trip is the first by a British leader to Ireland in five years and is a further sign that the two wish to deepen relations on economic and security matters.
Harris was the first international leader Starmer hosted following his Labour Party's landslide election victory on July 4.
“Today is really significant because we have made clear our ambition to reset the relationship and today we take that forward,” Starmer said.
“We are clear that by March we want to have a summit to show the yield from this and then annual summits after that.”
“I know as as two new leaders of our respective countries, we both said we wish to really place British-Irish relations on a new path. And I really appreciate the time that you've given to us since taking office,” Harris told Starmer.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since the UK voted in 2016 to withdraw from the European Union, especially in light of how it affected the political structures of Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.
When the UK left the bloc, the British government and the EU agreed to keep the Irish border free of customs posts and other checks because an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.
Keir Starmer Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Starmer said the reset in relations has to cover the Good Friday agreement, the landmark 1998 deal that brought an end to the conflict known as the Troubles.
“I take very seriously our joint role in relation to that. And I've been very clear about that for many, many years and renew that commitment here today,” Starmer said.
Starmer said now was a chance to further solidify the relations, both with Ireland as well as the EU.
He has said that the UK will not seek to rejoin the EU under his leadership, nor the bloc's frictionless single market and customs union.
However, he has made it clear that he wants to renegotiate elements of the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU in order to bolster growth, part of what he called “the wider EU reset.”
“We are also resetting our relationship with the EU and I have made it very clear that I want a closer relationship with the EU,” he said.
“That is of course on security, on defence, but also on trade, reducing the friction and any business here in Ireland will tell you that reducing the friction helps and so we want to reset that relationship.”
Starmer has been touring EU capitals, including Paris and Berlin, since his election victory in the hope of generating the goodwill to move forward on that front, as well as to “stand together” on international issues such as the war in Ukraine.
Starmer and Harris participated in a business roundtable in Dublin to explore how a “reset” in relations can benefit trade.
The economic relationship is worth around €120 billion and supports thousands of jobs on both sides of the Irish Sea.
