British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Dublin on Saturday for the first visit by a British head of government to Ireland in five years. It is a moment for a fresh start in relations between the United Kingdom and Ireland, he said.
Starmer was received in Dublin by his Irish counterpart Simon Harris. The latter said that he was “very pleased that British-Irish relations are back on track”, during a press moment. “We will probably try to establish today what a reset of bilateral relations means”, the Irish prime minister added. For him, they must be based on “peace, prosperity, mutual respect and friendship”.
Starmer, for his part, spoke of “an opportunity to renew the friendship between our two countries” and a “fresh start” for British-Irish relations.
Besides trade relations between their two countries, both prime ministers will also discuss the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Starmer and Harris exchanged national team jerseys for their meeting. They will watch Ireland’s Nations League clash with England together on Saturday.
The previous British Prime Minister to visit Ireland was Boris Johnson in 2019, amid intense negotiations between London and the European Union over Brexit.