Irish PM hosts Starmer for talks

Downing Street described as a ‘historic moment for UK-Ireland relations’ Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Ireland on the weekend, the first by a British leader in five years.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Irish counterpart Simon Harris in the stands during the UEFA Nations League football match between Ireland and England at Aviva Stadium, in Dublin, on Saturday. Picture: AFP

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the weekend made the first visit by a British leader to ­Ireland in five years, vowing to “reset” damaged post-Brexit relations between the neighbours.

The visit, described by Downing Street as a “historic moment for UK-Ireland relations”, signals a further warming in ties that had frayed under Britain’s previous Conservative government.

Irish counterpart Simon Harris welcomed Sir Keir to Dublin, with the pair shaking hands and posing for photographs before heading for talks.

“Today we’re in Dublin to flesh out what a reset actually looks like … in a practical sense for our citizens on both islands,” Mr Harris said on Saturday (Sunday AEST).

“And I certainly know that it has to be embedded in things like peace, prosperity, mutual respect and friendship.”

Sir Keir said the reset was ­“really important to me and my government”. “(It) can be meaningful. It can be deep,” he said.

His office later said both leaders noted the existing ties between the countries but “agreed they wanted to go even further – in particular on trade and investment to help boost growth and deliver on behalf of the British and Irish people”.

“In that vein, they agreed to host the first UK-Ireland summit in March next year, which will take forward co-operation in key areas of mutual interest such as security, climate, trade and culture,” Sir Keir’s office said.

The leaders also 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.

Mr Harris, who became Prime Minister in April, was the first international leader hosted by Sir Keir in Britain after his landslide election win in July.

Conservative former PM Boris Johnson’s hard break from the EU in 2020 after the 2016 referendum was widely seen as destabilising relations ­between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland. Since taking power, Sir Keir has moved to begin the repeal of a law granting conditional immunity to perpetrators of crimes during Northern Ireland’s decades of sectarian violence.

AFP