Statement on the resetting of UK-Irish relations

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Simon Harris met on 7 September and the focus of their meeting was to agree an ambitious reset of the UK-Ireland relationship.

Anthony Soares, Director of the Centre for Cross Border Studies, said: “The Centre welcomes the UK and Irish governments’ commitment to resetting their bilateral relations, and that the Joint Statement by Taoiseach Simon Harris and Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued on 7 September 2024 notes that they do so in recognition of ‘the importance of their responsibilities as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, and their shared ambition for greater opportunity, economic prosperity and reconciliation across these islands to include and benefit Northern Ireland’.

“It is also to be welcomed that the Joint Statement ends by referring to the two leaders seeing each other again at the British-Irish Council summit in December, as well as at the UN General Assembly. An increase in the frequency of meetings between the leaders of the UK and Irish governments will be a crucial vehicle for the rebuilding and strengthening of relations between the two governments, and should provide a means of greater and sustained focus on their roles as co-guarantors of the 1998 Agreement. This would mark a step-change to the situation that has prevailed over recent years.

“However, the resetting of relations – particularly given the recognition of their responsibilities as co-guarantors – should be undertaken in the context of the institutions that already exist under Strand 3 of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, and alert to how this moment can be used to strengthen them. Therefore, it will be important to avoid undermining the role of the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC) which, as set out in the 1998 Agreement, is to ‘bring together the British and Irish Governments to promote bilateral co-operation at all levels on all matters of mutual interest’.

“In this regard, the Joint Statement notes how ‘The leaders agreed that to take the UK-Ireland relationship to a new level and to deliver on the promise of that relationship, the first of a new series of annual leader-level UK-Ireland summits would take place in March 2025’. While the Centre for Cross Border Studies welcomes an increase in meetings at the highest levels of both governments, we would strongly encourage both parties to exploit the opportunities to make full use of the institutions established by the Agreement of which they are co-guarantors. The creation of new bilateral forums could result in a weakening of the BIIGC, which has already suffered from a period of neglect. This is the moment to reverse that situation.”

Dr Anthony Soares