During their meeting in Dublin, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Simon Harris discussed the significance of rebuilding the connection between their two nations, reports RTE.
Since Boris Johnson visited Dublin in 2019 during the height of the Brexit negotiations, this is the first formal visit by a British prime minister.
Beginning in March of next year, Mr. Harris and Mr. Starmer have established a new yearly meeting between their two nations.
The two leaders are hosting a roundtable of Irish business executives after having a working lunch at Farmleigh House, reports RTE.
Speaking at Farmleigh, Mr. Starmer said that it was noteworthy since this was only their second official meeting in nine weeks.
“This shows a real intention on both our parts to reset this relationship and renew the relationship and deepen it. That will be of great benefit to Ireland and the UK”, reports RTE.
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Mr Harris, who described Mr Starmer as his friend, said: “It’s a really great honour to host you here today on your first official visit to Ireland as Prime Minister.”
He added: “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. We obviously had a call within hours of you being in Downing Street, we had a very productive meeting in Chequers in July, and I think today we’re here at Dublin to probably try to flesh out what a reset actually looks like, and what it looks like in a practical sense for our citizens on both islands,” reports RTE.
According to Mr. Harris, “peace and prosperity, mutual respect and friendship” were essential components of a relationship reset.
He stated that co-guarantors of the peace process in Northern Ireland was their “most solemn duty” as leaders of the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Later today, they will go together to the Aviva Stadium to watch the Republic of Ireland vs. England UEFA Nations’ League match.
Although Mr. Harris acknowledged that there may be difficulties in the two nations’ relationship throughout the game, he continued, saying, “We will have intense and friendly competition, and then we will renew and reset again later in the evening,” reports RTE.
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