Simon Harris and Keir Starmer have discussed the need to reset the relationship between the UK and Ireland. "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 Saturday before their meeting, AFP reports. Both leaders have been in office only months; Starmer was making the first official visit of a UK prime minister to Ireland since 2019. A reset "can be meaningful, it can be deep," he said.
They had a working lunch at Farmleigh House, then hosted a roundtable discussion of Irish business leaders, per RTE. The agenda included reaffirming the Good Friday Agreement and their nations' commitment to reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Starmer has taken steps toward repealing a law that gave conditional immunity to those who committed crimes during the decades-long sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, a move that victims' families adamantly oppose.
Relations have become more strained since the UK left the European Union, and Harris and Starmer also plan to seek a more formal framework for their relationship in the wake of that decision. They announced they'll hold annual summits starting in March on trade and other issues on which they seek cooperation, per the BBC. This time, Starmer said, international issues including Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion and the Israel-Hamas war required their attention. "In the face of Russian aggression, we have to stand together, to co-ordinate, stand with our allies and give Ukraine all the support that it needs for as long as it needs," he said. (More Ireland stories.)
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