SHIFT IN TONE
Harris, who became taoiseach (prime minister) in April, was the first international leader hosted by Starmer in the UK after his landslide election win in July.
The pair chatted over pints of Ireland’s national drink, Guinness, at the British prime minister’s country residence, Chequers, northwest of London, before a larger meeting of European leaders.
The focus on “resetting” Anglo-Irish relations marks a notable shift in language after the last few years saw tensions rise between Dublin and London.
Britons narrowly voted to exit the European Union in a referendum in 2016 and the country finally left the bloc in 2020 after years of political division and stalemate.
Conservative former prime minister Boris Johnson’s hard break from the EU was widely seen as destabilising relations between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Since taking power, Starmer has moved to begin the repeal of a law granting conditional immunity to perpetrators of crimes during Northern Ireland’s decades of sectarian violence.
Source: CNA
