UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer began the first visit by a British leader to Ireland in five years on Saturday, vowing to “reset” damaged post-Brexit relations between the two nations.
Downing Street described the visit as a “historic moment for UK-Ireland relations,” signaling improved bilateral ties that had frayed under the UK’s previous Conservative government.
Irish counterpart Simon Harris welcomed Starmer to Dublin. Both leaders shook hands and posed for photographs before heading into 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,” 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, “The reset is really important to me and my government. It can be meaningful. It can be deep.”
Before heading into a roundtable meeting with business leaders, Harris noted that they had “a very productive meeting.” They agreed to hold an annual summit, with the first set for March 2025.
Both leaders stressed the importance of their roles as guardians of the Good Friday Agreement. The 1998 accord ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Boosting economic growth and responding to international crises were high on the agenda. Harris noted that the leaders “were aligned in so many ways.”
Harris became taoiseach (prime minister) in April and was the first international leader hosted by Starmer in the UK after his landslide election win in July. The pair chatted over pints of Guinness at the British prime minister’s country residence, Chequers, before meeting with European leaders.
The focus on “resetting” Anglo-Irish relations marks a shift from recent years when tensions rose between Dublin and London. Britons narrowly voted to exit the European Union in a 2016 referendum, and the country left the bloc in 2020 after years of political division. Former prime minister Boris Johnson’s hard break from the EU destabilized relations between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Since taking power, Starmer has moved to repeal a law granting conditional immunity for crimes during Northern Ireland’s decades of sectarian violence. Relatives of those who lost their lives in “The Troubles” fiercely oppose this move.
During Saturday’s encounter, the leaders reaffirmed the Good Friday Agreement and their commitment to reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Starmer and Harris were to attend the Ireland versus England Nations’ League football match on Saturday evening.
