EU relations, Northern Ireland and Gaza on agenda for Taoiseach meeting with Starmer

By Rebecca Black, PA

Dealing with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s troubled past, relations with the EU and Gaza are set to be discussed during a meeting between Taoiseach Micheál Martin and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The Taoiseach is to travel to the UK on Friday for the meeting, where Ireland and the UK’s bilateral relationship will also be discussed.

The leaders spoke in a telephone call in July in what was termed a “constructive discussion” on dealing with the legacy of the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland.

They met in March in Liverpool in a new series of annual UK-Ireland summits, hailed as the “next chapter” in their relationship after having “turned a page on the turbulent years”.

Speaking ahead of the meeting on Friday, Mr Martin said they will discuss progress made on their co-operation programme since March.

“I’m looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Starmer today and to discussing a range of matters, including the progress to date on the delivery of the UK-Ireland 2030 cooperation programme, which we agreed at our summit in March in Liverpool,” he said.

“We will also discuss legacy issues, recognising its importance to people in Northern Ireland and across these islands, and to broader British-Irish relations.

“Our discussions will also cover the welcome progress in strengthening EU-UK relations as well as pressing international issues, in particular the intolerable situation in Gaza, and continued support for Ukraine in its defence against ongoing Russian aggression.”