Taoiseach and British PM deliver consensus on 38 point statement - but Irish case against UK still heading for Strasbourg
Mark Paul at Inglewood Manor, Irish Times, September 7th, 2025
Game of geopolitical five-a-side aims to score after ‘turning the page on the turbulent years’
Taoiseach and British PM deliver consensus on 38-point statement
The last time a Taoiseach met a British prime minister at a wedding venue on Merseyside’s Wirral peninsula, they announced a diplomatic breakthrough on trade rules, only for the UK government to unilaterally junk the agreement soon afterwards.
Yesterday, at Inglewood Manor, Micheál Martin and Keir Starmer seemed determined to ensure that, this time, the mutual bonhomie stuck, unlike the ill-fated Brexit meeting in 2019 of their predecessors Leo Varadkar and Boris Johnson, who met at Thornton Manor just up the road.
Back then, and after winning an election soon after, Johnson effectively set fire to the Brexit solution he cooked up with Varadkar at Thornton Manor.
Even the hotel burned down sometime afterwards.
Two different Edwardian estates on the splendid Wirral, two different political atmospheres under new regimes, one glaring difference: Starmer is no Johnson. Britain’s Labour prime minister opened yesterday’s UK-Ireland summit at Inglewood with the declaration of a “new era” in relations.
“We have turned the page on the turbulent years,” said Starmer. Across the table in the hotel’s wood-panelled Burton suite, Martin almost cooed with satisfaction, as did his four Cabinet colleagues who also made the trip – Tánaiste Simon Harris, Minister for the Environment Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Education Helen McEntee and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
Improved relations
In this game of geopolitical five-a-side, Starmer lined out alongside his deputy Angela Rayner, climate secretary Ed Miliband, home secretary Yvette Cooper and Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn. It was soon their turn to listen as the Irish delegation lauded the improved relations. Miliband’s head almost fell from his shoulders, he was nodding along so furiously as the Taoiseach spoke about deepening co-operation on energy – borne out in the joint statement issued later on.
“We’re both windy spots. Therein lies our potential,” said Martin. Blowing for power instead of blowing hard makes such a political difference.
The formalities of yesterday’s summit were preceded on Wednesday evening by a cultural reception in the Museum of Liverpool, a half- hour drive from Inglewood in the Scouse city. Attendees included executives from organisations such as the Football Association of Ireland, assorted business executives, community leaders and local politicians – the great and the good of the Irish in Britain.
Starmer is often – and arguably unfairly – accused by his critics in British media of being robotic. If so, at the museum reception he had been programmed to say the word “fantastic”. He incessantly applied it to everything from the food by London-based chef Anna Haugh, from Tallaght; the venue; the city and the very idea that Irish and British leaders could meet in such an era of warm relations.
Afterwards, the prime minister and the Taoiseach moved on to a nearby restaurant where, it is understood, they dined together while their delegations ate in an adjacent room. A few of the Irish attendees then retired to the Hilton Hotel on the waterfront to watch Liverpool’s Champions League match in Paris, where victory for the away team must have put Ireland’s ambassador to Britain, Reds fan Martin Fraser, in even better form than the convivial political atmosphere on all sides.
Business leaders
Next morning, the two leaders attended a breakfast with business leaders before convening on the Wirral, where their ministerial colleagues had already gathered to await their arrival.
Starmer arrived shortly before 9.30am, traipsing through the lobby in discombobulated fashion seeking a room in which to deposit his briefcase. Rayner nipped outside to take a call. Miliband popped his head around a door. Benn peered through the windows before, finally, the Taoiseach arrived in one of the fleet of UK government Range Rovers crawling around the 38-acre estate grounds.
They lined up for their five-a-side with a few non-playing civil servants at each end of the table, and after remarks for the cameras – Starmer was still in “fantastic” mode – they got down to business.
Much of the spade work had been done beforehand by the political teams in Westminster, Dublin and at the Irish Embassy in London. The result was a detailed 38-point joint statement from Martin and Starmer. They spoke about working together to buttress “the global multilateral system and international law”, relevant in the context of the conflicts in Gaza and also Ukraine.
They promised co-operation on maritime security, such as the protection of the subsea cables that land in Ireland carrying digital data between the US and Europe, and which the Russians have been openly snooping around for several years.
The two states will co-operate further on the building of wind energy assets in the Irish and Celtic seas – energy was one of the dominant issues discussed across the table in the Burtin suite. They will set up an “economic security exchange to share good practices and experiences”. They also agreed to establish a joint youth forum to drive ideas for the future.
Starmer also mentioned that he saw the British-Irish alliance as critical for helping to improve the UK’s co-operation with the European Union. Afterwards, Martin headed for Brussels for a meeting of EU leaders. Starmer, meanwhile, was also invited to Brussels but instead will only dial in on Friday – domestically he can’t be seen to be attending EU meetings just yet.
When it comes to repairing the damage of recent years, it must be one step at a time.
Harris : We’re not at point of dropping legacy case
Cillian Sherlock, Irish News, March 7th, 2025
THE Republic is still not at the point of dropping its interstate case against Britain’s Legacy Act, the Tánaiste said yesterday.
Dublin launched an interstate legal case against London over the laws which halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths.
The Act was brought in by the previous Conservative government.
The case remains active, with ministers in Dublin wanting to see how Labour resolves its concerns over the legislation before any decision is taken to withdraw the action.
While the Labour government is repealing parts of the Act, including the offer of conditional immunity for perpetrators of Troubles killings, it has decided to retain the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.
The Legacy Act has also faced opposition from political parties and victims’ organisations here.
Tánaiste Simon Harris met with Secretary of State Hilary Benn in Liverpool yesterday, as part of the first in a series of Britain-Ireland summits between now and 2030.
They had also held a meeting in Dublin last week.
Mr Harris said he was confident the summit marked a new chapter in the Irish-UK relationship, rooted in the “commitments as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement”.
He said Ireland wants to be in a position where the case is no longer necessary but said there was a requirement “to get to that point first”.
The Tánaiste told reporters: “Ireland never wanted to find itself in a position where it had to take its nearest neighbour to an international court. Of course we didn’t and of course we exhausted every diplomatic and political avenue before having to take that case.
“I’ve been very clear since the election of the still relatively new British government that we want to be in a place where we can no longer need to have that case alive.
“Of course, we have to get to that point first. There is a sequence to all of this.”
He said it was “very welcome” to see a commitment to repealing and replacing the Legacy Act included in the King’s Speech on the House of Commons’ legislative agenda.
“But of course, as with anything, what’s in that legislation matters.
“We’ve got to make sure that we can bring victims with us, bring victims’ families with us, bring the representative groups with us, that we can engage with the parties in Northern Ireland.”
PSNI in crisis – Policing Board hears
Connla Young, Irish News, Crime and Security Correspondent, March 7th, 2025
CASH-STRAPPED PSNI chiefs are forking out more than £3.5 million a year to 44 suspended officers facing a range of allegations including serious sexual offences.
Details, which include that one officer has been off work for seven years, emerged during a meeting of the Policing Board yesterday.
Figures provided by Chief Constable Jon Boutcher show there are 14 officers suspended for up to one year. Twenty-one have been off work from one to three years and of that number, 11 are involved in criminal proceedings.
Eight officers have been suspended for between three and five years, including three cases involving ongoing criminal proceedings and two Police Ombudsman cases that have not yet been submitted to the PSNI. One officer has been suspended for seven years as part of an ombudsman investigation “with a trial date still to be set”.
Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton revealed the full cost to taxpayers.
“The annual cost of the suspension of those 44 officers, if we take them as the current cohort, we believe would be in excess of about £3.5m in terms of the total salary costs of those officers,” he told the meeting.
“So it is something that we really do need to keep a very close eye to in terms of making sure that we are appropriately utilising people.
“In this cohort we are talking about allegations of very serious sexual offences, domestic violence and serious dishonesty and misconduct in public office.”
The ombudsman’s office recently called for fast-tracking powers after delays in the system were highlighted.
Boutcher - Stormont Programme for Government missed opportunity to address funding ‘crisis’
David Young, Irish News, March 7th, 2025
STORMONT’S Programme for Government has failed to address the funding and resourcing “crisis” within the PSNI, according to the chief constable.
Jon Boutcher branded the executive plan a “missed” opportunity and expressed concern it was going to take a “catastrophic event” to wake people up to the reality of historically low officer numbers here.
Addressing the monthly meeting of his scrutiny body, the chief constable referred to the public debate around funding for health waiting lists after this week’s publication of the Programme for Government.
But he said there had been no ministerial assurances offered around efforts to increase police recruitment.
The region’s most senior officer is pressing to secure £200 million extra funding required across the coming five years for a recruitment plan to increase officer numbers from the 6,300 at present to 7,000.
However, he noted that even 7,000 is well short of the recommended officer numbers of 7,500 for the PSNI.
Sustainable Funding needed to create safer society
“The Programme for Government published this week is asking for plenty from policing again, in terms of collaboration, speeding up justice and enhancing public safety,” the chief constable told board members at the meeting in Belfast.
“We will play the best role our numbers allow in the key priorities of ending violence against women and girls, and creating safer communities. However, it’s crucially important and fundamental to the security of Northern Ireland that a sufficient and more sustainable funding settlement is achieved for policing if we are to deliver these priorities.
“I did not see any explicit executive commitment to that in the document. I do welcome the programme’s commitment to growing officer numbers and supporting our recovery business case.
“However, as I’ve said when the document was in draft, I do not feel the Programme for Government properly reflects the level of crisis in policing in Northern Ireland, and I will keep making that clear until it is addressed.
“I would welcome clear statements from ministers outlining support for the recovery plan in the terms of both numbers and funding. I do believe that I have been heard in broad terms about resourcing. It is my belief that there is a cross-party political acceptance that the police service has been severely underfunded and allowed to shrink to unacceptably low numbers.
“However, actions speak louder than words. That is why it’s disappointing the executive have missed this opportunity to provide clarity and to strengthen its commitments to properly resourcing this organisation. There has been much publicity about the funding levels quoted for cutting health waiting times, which I do welcome, but no such reassurances have yet been provided for policing.”
‘Safety forum’ for policing partnership members after dissident republican protests
Connla Young, Irish News, March 7th, 2025
THE PSNI is to set up a ‘safety forum’ for members of local policing partnerships amid claims that recent protests by hardline republicans are putting Catholics off joining the service.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told the Policing Board that “no significant impact has been noted” after a series of protests at Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) meetings in Belfast and Craigavon last month.
However, he also revealed plans to establish a safety forum.
PCSPs, which include elected representatives and members of the public, hold regular meetings about local policing and community safety issues.
The protests followed a period of renewed concerns about the religious makeup of the PSNI after it emerged that only around 27 per cent of applicants to a new recruitment process are Catholic.
It emerged during yesterday’s meeting that 4,822 people have now applied to join the PSNI as part of the recent recruitment drive – representing a further slight increase to 28.8 per cent Catholic.
During the meeting Mr Boutcher was critical of those who took part in the protests.
“So at present no significant impacts have been noted, although, of course, I have mentioned my concerns about the anxiety this would have caused, but no concern in the majority of districts whatsoever and the work continues,” he said.
He later revealed that a safety forum will now be established.
“We will continue to engage with all parties through the board of course, with a view to producing more comprehensive guidance for the chairs of these meetings to deal with this kind of activity,” he said.
“We are also now looking at the creation of a PCSP members safety forum – just a mechanism to provide more reassurance with regards to supporting members of our PCSPs around specifically this kind of behaviour.”
Later in the meeting DUP Policing Board member Trevor Clarke said “there is no doubt in my mind this type of action from that particular section of the community is putting off similar people from that community”.
“Whenever you see recruitment applications down to 27%, I think that speaks directly to it,” he said.
“People from the Roman Catholic community are in fear of those people who come into those meetings and hijack them and as I say, it’s intimidation, it’s not freedom of speech.”
A spokeswoman for the board said that “in light of recent disruptions to PCSP public meetings, a decision was taken to hold the Policing Board’s March meeting via livestream only”.
‘Three PSNI applicants out of 10,000 failed social media conduct vetting’
Rebecca Black, Irish News, March 7th, 2025
JUST three out of 10,000 people who applied to join the PSNI failed to clear security vetting based on social media posts, the Policing Board heard yesterday.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher previously expressed concern at the number of young people failing vetting over social media activity.
During a meeting of the board, Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly questioned Mr Boutcher further on what sort of activity would lead to a candidate failing the vetting.
He queried whether it could be for voicing criticism of police, attending a commemoration of a relative, being connected to a Sinn Féin member or supporting the party.
“That is the essence of what is being said in the media at the moment,” Mr Kelly added.
Mr Boutcher responded by saying he has established that in the previous two recruitment processes, not including the current process, three people out of 10,000 failed the vetting because of solely what was on their social media accounts.
“If you weren’t able to become a police officer because you disagreed with the government or something police did, I wouldn’t be a police officer,” he said.
It’s about values
“So it’s not about that. It’s about values, it’s about what we’d expect from people around the standards that we want in policing.
“It’s beyond sharing a particular position on agreeing or disagreeing with something that might have happened in the public domain.
“It’s about language, it’s about some of the things you see online where there is clearly predatory, abusive, concerning behaviours.
“It’s difficult in this environment to go into specifics, but there is a panel that will assess these issues if there is a concern.
“We then have Sir John Gillen as a point of appeal, who will look at any cases where people feel they have been unfairly treated.”
Mr Boutcher also emphasised the importance of vetting.
“Policing has found in recent years where they have cut corners with vetting, they brought people in like David Carrick and Wayne Couzens who should not be police officers, and that is causing significant challenges and has caused reputational issues in recent years,” he added.
“The Angiolini Inquiry has said that the key to the issues we have found with people was the vetting processes, and we are very much signed up to the 16 recommendations in that report.
“To reassure you, if someone comes from a particular background, and that’s any background because there are all sorts of new and emerging communities in Northern Ireland that we want to be part of this organisation, and may have a view of policing traditionally, that will not impact on their ability to be a good police officer, and that will not prevent them from being a police officer.”
