Next generation ‘will never forgive us’ if Anglo-Irish relations not repaired, Taoiseach says
The next generation “will never forgive us” if the opportunity to reset Anglo-Irish relations is not seized following Labour’s landslide victory in the UK general election, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said.
Mr Harris acknowledged there had been “clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges” between the UK and Ireland in the years since Brexit, but the Taoiseach said he was eager to work with new prime minister Keir Starmer to repair relations.
Shortly after his appointment as prime minister, Mr Starmer had a telephone conversation with the Taoiseach and invited him to visit Downing Street on July 17th.
Mr Harris on Sunday told Sky News the British-Irish relationship is “really strong” and the two islands have “many issues of mutual concern”.
“At the end of the day, we’re neighbours, we’re friends; in many cases we’re family as well, and there’s an opportunity now, a real opportunity that we must seize and the next generation will never forgive us ... if we don’t, to press reset, to say: ‘yes it’s been a difficult few years, but you know what? We have so much more in common than divides us’,” the Fine Gael leader said.
He said Ireland and the UK should work together to “fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement” which he said was “very much in the DNA of the British Labour Party”.
In a post on X replying to Mr Harris, the prime minister said: “An Anglo-Irish partnership can offer great opportunities to both our nations. Looking forward to working closely with you.”
The Taoiseach said one of the priorities of his meeting with Mr Starmer later this month would be discussing ways of improving the structures for engagement between Britain and Ireland following Brexit.
“It used to be that whoever the Irish taoiseach and British prime minister was would meet regularly through their membership of the European Union,” he said. “Those structures obviously aren’t there now. I respect that fact. But we do need to look for new ways of making sure that regular engagement happens.”
Mr Harris said people did not need a history lesson over why the relationship has been difficult in recent years.
“Obviously, Brexit did make life challenging and challenging in relation to the relationship between the two islands and also, I suppose, changed that in many ways because no longer will be two countries within the European Union,” he said.
“We’ve also had a situation where up until recently, there was a vacuum in Northern Ireland in terms of the institutions not functioning.
“Thankfully, that’s now been settled, and I think the fact that we now have a new British prime minister and indeed a new Irish Taoiseach does present a real opportunity for both of us, both myself and the prime minister, to dig deep in terms of resetting Anglo-Irish relations and both of us to show some leadership in that regard, because the relationship between our two countries, the relationship as close neighbours, our closest neighbours, it matters and it matters to people on both of our islands.”
Mr Harris said there were “clear policy differences and difficulties and challenges” over the last number of years but that he had a “very good professional relationship” with Mr Starmer’s predecessor, Rishi Sunak.
He also said Ireland would be an ally in any discussions the UK had around improving its relationship with the EU.
Referring to Brexit, he said: “That decision has been made and my understanding is there’s no British government that intends to revisit that in any manner or means.
“However, it is obviously important that Britain and the European Union continue to be good neighbours and it is absolutely in Ireland’s interest that we facilitate that in every way we can around any European table.” – PA
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