UK and Ireland seek to 'reset' relations after Starmer visit

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer became the first British leader to visit Ireland in five years on Saturday and promised to "reset" relations between London and Dublin.

Downing Street described the visit, during which Starmer held talks with his Irish counterpart Simon Harris, as a "historic moment for UK-Ireland relations."

After years of increased tensions between the United Kingdom and Ireland —  mainly over Brexit—  Harris said: 

"Today we're in Dublin to flesh out what a reset actually looks like in a practical sense for our citizens on both islands. "

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

Starmer and Irish premier aim to boost trade and investment

After the talks, Starmer's office issued a statement saying that both leaders 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."

Starmer added that the reset was "really important to me and my government," saying it "can be meaningful, it can be deep."

The pair also agreed to host the first UK-Ireland summit in March next year to "take forward co-operation in key areas of mutual interest such as security, climate, trade and culture."

The two swapped English and Irish football shirts before attending the Nations League international match between Ireland and England in Dublin together.

The visitors won 2-0 courtesy of goals, ironically, from two players who had represented Ireland at different levels before switching allegiance to England, further underlining the familial and historical ties between the two countries.

Why were British-Irish relations strained?

Britain's withdrawal from the EU in 2020 following a 2016 referendum created a land border between the UK and the EU on the island of Ireland — namely between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and Ireland, which remained in the EU.

The leaders astressed the importance of their joint roles as guardians of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal that brought an end to decades of sectarian violence on the island of Ireland known as “the Troubles."

The relationship between London and Dublin "has never reached its full potential but I want to change that," said Starmer, who has been seeking closer ties with EU members since taking office.

Just days after  Labour Party's election win, Foreign Minister David Lammy met his counterparts in Germany, Sweden and Poland.

Prime Minister Starmer chose Berlin for his first bilateral foreign visit and  held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

mf/rm (Reuters, AFP)    

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that England's goals had come from players born in Ireland. This has been amended as the players were born in the UK, but had played previously for Ireland. We apologize for the error.