British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to touch down in Dublin this Saturday, marking the first visit by a UK leader to Ireland in five years. The trip aims to breathe new life into British-Irish relations, with trade taking center stage.
Starmer will meet with Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris to discuss boosting the €100 billion annual trade between the two nations. The leaders will also rub elbows with bigwigs from companies like Accenture and Primark, hoping to drum up more business across the Irish Sea.
“We’ve got a golden opportunity to take our partnership to the next level,” Starmer said, emphasizing his desire to unlock the full potential of UK-Ireland ties.
Harris echoed the sentiment, calling the meeting “an important moment of reset” and expressing his eagerness to put relations on a “better and stronger footing.”
The visit isn’t all business, though. The two leaders will cap off the day by catching the Republic of Ireland vs England Nations League football match.
This Dublin trip follows Starmer’s recent charm offensive in Berlin and Paris, as he seeks to cozy up to EU leaders and mend fences post-Brexit.
With promises of closer cooperation and a shared vision for the future, both Starmer and Harris seem ready to turn the page on recent tensions and write a new chapter in British-Irish relations.