Harris and Starmer expected to discuss Northern Ireland, Gaza and Ukraine

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Taoiseach Simon Harris and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are expected to discuss Northern Ireland as well as the situations in Gaza and Ukraine during their first face-to-face meeting since the UK general election.

Mr Harris said the meeting would also be used to discuss the shared aim of a “reset in British-Irish relations”.

The Irish premier is travelling to Chequers where he will meet Sir Keir over dinner.

Mr Harris said: “The invitation extended to me by Prime Minister Starmer to meet with him at Chequers is a strong signal of the value he attaches to the friendship and closeness that saw our two countries achieve so much together in the past, and to resetting the relationship so that we can again achieve much together in the time ahead.

“I look forward to getting to know the Prime Minister and to conveying to him the broad welcome across Government, and more widely across Ireland, to a reset in relations with the United Kingdom at this time.

“I am fully committed to a stronger, mutually respectful and ambitious partnership between both countries, and to getting down to work to make this happen.”

The relationship between London and Dublin has been under severe strain in recent years.

The turbulence caused by Brexit and the Conservative government’s controversial laws to deal with the legacy of the Troubles were areas of major tension.

Sir Keir has pledged to repeal the legislation that offered conditional immunity for perpetrators of Troubles crimes.

One of Sir Keir’s first actions after entering Downing Street was to hold a phone conversation with the Taoiseach and to invite him to the face-to-face meeting.

During the phone conversation the two leaders committed to reset and strengthen Anglo-Irish relations “with urgency and ambition”.

A statement from the Taoiseach’s office said: “As well as discussing bilateral relations, it is expected that the Taoiseach and Prime Minister will discuss Northern Ireland and international issues, including the situation in Gaza and in Ukraine.

“The Taoiseach will update on current EU priorities and the leaders will share perspectives on EU-UK relations.

“The meeting is expected to allow both leaders to re-affirm their respective commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, and the resolve of both governments to furthering reconciliation in Northern Ireland.”

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald urged the Taoiseach to use the meeting to press the case for a public inquiry into the murder of lawyer Pat Finucane.

Mr Finucane was gunned down by loyalist paramilitaries inside the family home in north Belfast in 1989.

For years, the Finucane family has campaigned for a public inquiry, after several examinations of the case found state forces colluded in the murder.

Earlier this month, a Court of Appeal ruling in Belfast gave the new government three weeks to state how it would carry out an investigation into the lawyer’s death which is compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ms McDonald said: “In 2019, the Supreme Court in London declared that previous investigations commissioned by successive British governments into the murder of Pat Finucane by loyalists to have failed to meet the standards required by Article 2.

“For decades now, Geraldine Finucane and her family have led a dignified campaign for truth and justice, seeking a public inquiry into her late husband’s murder.”

The Sinn Fein president added: “Regrettably, the British government has not adequately or sufficiently responded to that 2019 Supreme Court judgment, forcing Mrs Finucane to fight a series of legal battles.

“In the latest case last week, the Court of Appeal set out a timetable for action, requiring the British government to respond within three weeks and agree to an Article 2 compliant investigation into Pat Finucane’s murder.

“I have written to the Taoiseach to urge him to raise the matter directly with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer when they meet and to urgently press the case for a public inquiry to be held which is long overdue and decision time draws near.”