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Starmer’s trip to Ireland on Saturday is the first by a British prime minister to Ireland in five years and is a further sign that the two wish to deepen relations on economic and security matters.
“Today is really significant because we have made clear our ambition to reset the relationship and today we take that forward,” Starmer said in remarks last night.
Starmer said now was a chance to further solidify the relations, both with Ireland as well as the EU.
He said he wants better cooperation with EU states, and hopes to improve diplomatic and trade relations without revisiting the fundamental basis of Britain’s departure from the EU.
“We are also resetting our relationship with the EU and I have made it very clear that I want a closer relationship with the EU,” he said.
“That is of course on security, on defense, but also on trade, reducing the friction and any business here in Ireland will tell you that reducing the friction helps and so we want to reset that relationship,” he added.
Speaking at a roundtable meeting with Irish business leaders, Harris identified justice, climate, culture, education and digitization as areas of possible collaboration.
Commerce across the Irish Sea, a trade relationship worth $133 billion a year which supports thousands of jobs, was at the top of the agenda.
The Irish premier said there was a need to be “ambitious and bold” when examining reform of regulation and trade barriers.
After the talks, Starmer’s office issued a statement saying that both leaders noted the existing ties between the countries but “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.
“In that vein, they agreed to host the first UK-Ireland summit in March next year, which will take forward co-operation in key areas of mutual interest such as security, climate, trade and culture,” it added
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