Starmer announces UK and Ireland to host annual summit to ‘reset’ relationship after Brexit

Ireland’s deputy prime minister has warned an ‘a la carte’ Brexit reset is not on the table

Taoiseach Simon Harris walks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at Farmleigh House (PA)

Sir Keir Starmer has announced that the UK and Ireland will hold annual summits on trade and cooperation in a bid to “reset the relationship” between the two countries.

During his first official visit to Dublin, the prime minister and Irish premier Simon Harris agreed on themes and structures for the first summit in March 2025.

An “a la carte” Brexit reset is not on the table, the deputy prime minister of Ireland has warned. He added that while the EU wants a “good and warm relationship” with the UK, Starmer would not be able to “cherry-pick” new terms.

Micheál Martin also blamed Brexit for the deterioration in relations between the neighbouring countries.

Starmer and Taoiseach Simon Harris have announced an annual summit (PA)

The two leaders met at Farmleigh House on Saturday before watching the Republic of Ireland football team’s match against England.

On his arrival, Mr Harris wished Sir Keir “a hundred thousand welcomes”, and 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.

“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.”

Mr Harris said a reset in relations had to be based on “peace and prosperity, mutual respect and friendship”.

At a round-table meeting with Irish business leaders, issues of justice, climate, culture, education and digitisation were identified as areas of possible collaboration.

The leaders swapped personalised jerseys before the Republic of Ireland v England match (PA)

Starmer added that there was a need to be “ambitious and bold” when examining reform of regulation and trade barriers.

It was announced that the first summit will focus on four areas: security, justice and global issues; climate, energy technology and innovation; growth, trade and investment; and culture, education and people-to-people connections.

In a joint statement, the leaders said this includes a shared interest in areas such as cybersecurity and maritime security, as well as connections through sport and joint cultural projects.

The two leaders met at Chequers in July, after first speaking within hours of Sir Keir entering Downing Street.

Sir Keir said meeting Mr Harris twice within his first nine weeks as prime minister shows a “real intention” to reset relationships to the “great benefit” of the UK and Ireland.

The two leaders previously met in July (AP)

He said he was seeking a “wider EU reset” with the leaders of countries that make up the bloc, after visiting Berlin and Paris last week as a means of building trust with German and French leaders.

Other international issues including Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East were high on the agenda, while a rally against UK 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”.

Mr Harris said the relationship between the two countries may face challenges, including the match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, but added: “We will have intense and friendly competition, and then we will renew and reset again later in the evening.”

Asked about the England football manager Lee Carsley’s announcement that he will not sing the British national anthem, Sir Keir said: “I will sing the national anthem and we are having a fantastic reset of relations between Ireland and the UK but the Taoiseach and I have already agreed that for 90 minutes we will suspend the reset and put more energy into it afterwards because we will be cheering on different sides.

“So I will be singing the national anthem. What others do is really a matter for them.”