Keir Starmer begins Irish visit with hopes of renewing relationship with EU neighbours
The Prime Minister spoke of “renewing the relationship” between the UK and Ireland as he began his first official visit to Dublin to meet the Irish Taoiseach, Simon Harris, the first visit by a UK prime minister in five years.
In a bid to foster the close relationship, Mr Harris was the first international leader hosted by the Prime Minister in the UK following the July election.
Sir Keir said that pressing international issues including Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East would be key discussion topics across the weekend.
Greeting the Prime Minister at Farmleigh House, the Irish Government’s formal reception house for State visits, the Taoiseach wished Sir Keir “a hundred thousand welcomes” to Ireland.
Mr Harris, who described Sir Keir as his friend, said: “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, and I’ve tried to respond in kind.”
Sir Keir said: “It’s a pleasure to be here, to have this opportunity that we will take to renew the friendship between our two countries.
“That reset, I think, can be meaningful, it can be deep.”
Mr Harris said a reset in relations had to be embedded in “peace and prosperity, mutual respect and friendship”.
He said their “most solemn duty” as leaders of the UK and Irish governments was as co-guarantors of the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Sir Keir responded by saying he takes that responsibility “very seriously”.
The UK’s trade relationship with Ireland is worth 100bn euros a year and supports thousands of jobs.
A rally against the UK’s arms exports to Israel was staged in Dublin city centre to coincide with the visit.
The Irish-Palestine Solidarity Campaign said the UK was “complicit in the ongoing genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine”.
Sir Keir said meeting Mr Harris twice within his first nine weeks in office as Prime Minister shows a “real intention” to reset relationships to the “great benefit” of both the UK and Ireland.
The Prime Minister said he was also seeking a “wider EU reset” with the leaders of countries that make up the bloc.
He visited Berlin and Paris last week as a means of building trust with German and French leaders.
Sir Keir used the term “reset” here too, with regards to the UK’s relationship with Europe, but immediately clarified that achieving this “does not mean reversing Brexit or re-entering the single market or the customs union”.
On 13 September, he will visit President Biden in the United States for a discussion on global topics including Ukraine and securing a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.
A statement from the White House said: “They will also discuss opportunities to strengthen US-UK co-operation to secure supply chains and increase climate resilience.
“President Biden will underscore the importance of continuing to strengthen the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.”
Additional agency reporting by Press Association