A chance for a reset in Anglo-Irish relations

This week will see a very welcome meeting between Taoiseach Simon Harris and the new British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Since 2016, meetings between a Taoiseach and a British Prime Minister have been rare and often fraught. We should hope that this meeting produces nothing more than nice sounding words and a good atmosphere, which is about all the drama we need in Anglo-Irish relations now. It is time to get things back to where they were before the nightmare of Brexit.

In their phone call just after Labour’s victory, the two men agreed to have what was described in a statement as a "close and constructive working relationship”. They spoke of their "shared determination to reset and strengthen the bilateral relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom". And off the Taoiseach goes to London this week, to start putting that aspiration into effect.

In terms of Anglo-Irish relations, it is not before time. Since Brexit, our relations with the UK have been bad, and at times terrible. It seems like an age since all the optimism around the visit of Queen Elizabeth back in 2011. The whole atmosphere of peace and reconciliation and of our shared interest in fostering such things was fundamentally shaken by that vote in 2016. Prior to that and in the immediate aftermath, a Taoiseach visiting Number 10 was almost a banality. It was normal rather than noteworthy. How that has changed.

Brexit was the main cause of that: a source of many sorrows. The change in our relations after it took on an edge especially because of the unwillingness of its advocates to accept what Brexit meant, with a hard border being of course the worst of it. Truth be told, our reaction to their flag waving and jingoism was not exactly a model of restraint either. When a fair history of the period is written, not everything our government did – driven by our public opinion – will be seen as a tough hand of cards played well. We like to think of it that way, but for the last eight years, Ireland has been getting ever more green in its politics, partly in response to all that Brexiteering over the water, but also because we have had almost ten years of near constant talking about the history of one hundred years ago. I for one am not sure if that has been good for us.

But with all that said, we did in the end get a result on Brexit that hopefully all can live with. The election of the new Labour government should now allow us to get back to where we were before 2016. Calm times, with uneventful meetings, discussing routine stuff.

So while the meeting this week will hopefully lack drama, they will have plenty to discuss. The working of the Windsor Framework and how Labour plans to align more closely with the EU will be a key focus. With the DUP rattled after the loss of three seats in the election, it is all the better that those plans will mean no more trade barriers between the island of Ireland and Britain. Things will certainly get better than worse on that score, for it is likely that this process will include a deal on food and sanitary standards. This will be of great assistance in Northern Ireland, and will also certainly help farmers down here.

Ireland can and should be an ally to the UK in its desire to achieve that. As members of the EU, we can make the argument internally as to why the UK should be facilitated in its goals to the maximum extent possible. We will emphasise the importance of ensuring that this British government – with a friendly attitude to the EU – is supported in what it is trying to achieve. Ireland and the UK can become firm friends on that in the coming years, not only because we should be good neighbours, but because we also have shared interests now.

There will be other matters on the agenda. The new British government is pledged to repeal the Legacy Act, passed by the previous government as a way to deal with Troubles-era violence. The Irish government is challenging this law in the European Court of Human Rights. Hopefully the meeting this week will chart progress on how we can get back to a bilateral way of dealing with these sensitive matters.

The end of the previous government’s Rwanda policy for migrants will definitely ease tensions between us. But there will still be much to discuss about the Common Travel Area and how immigration can be managed around it.

There will be a lot of focus in the meeting on making sure that the North-South and East-West aspects of the Good Friday Agreement are working to their maximum extent. You can expect a much greater involvement and enthusiasm from the British government on these aspects than we have known for some time. There will be a complete transformation from the days when our senior ministers were offered meetings with essentially junior ministers on the British side. As the details of how this will be done on the British side will be left to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, it is heartening to see the appointment of Hilary Benn to that role. He is a thoughtful and serious person and we should be very pleased he has been given the job.

After the Tory Brexit years, the election of a new Labour government was always going to give us some breathing space, a chance to re-build the relationship. But we are especially lucky in the Prime Minister. While Starmer has no family connection to Ireland, it is clear that he likes it. He worked in Northern Ireland for a time and the experience there is said to have shaped him in many ways. He came to Ireland shortly after he was married and again shortly after he became Labour leader – indications of a deep personal and professional regard for the place. He is well known for the Donegal jersey he wears while playing soccer with his mates. He will have an ally in that work of reconciliation with the King, and you’d have to wonder if a visit might be scheduled – though health problems may prevent it. Starmer has also surrounded himself with advisers who are either Irish or of Irish heritage. Given the policy on Ireland that the Tories and the Reform Party will cook up in opposition, the longer this man stays in office the better for us, and for this island.

So, all this is good news and we should welcome it. But we also have to be smart about it. When someone you have had a row with changes their stance, anyone with sense knows what not to do: never dance on a field of victory. And we also have to recognise some realities. The Labour government will not become a cheerleader for Irish unity. It will instead become a sensible, moderate and effective partner for us in how we manage relations on this island. That won’t bring cheers, but it should certainly bring relief.