Taoiseach Micheál Martin is to welcome today British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Cork for the second annual UK-Ireland summit.
The two-day summit takes place today (Thursday, March 12) and tomorrow (Friday, March 13) and will see the leaders attend a business roundtable event; a civic and cultural reception; an engagement with the Ireland-UK Youth Forum Advisory Group; and “a research-focused visit”, in addition to the Summit plenary meeting itself.
The inaugural UK-Ireland Summit took place March 5-6 last year in Liverpool, and resulted in a ‘programme of cooperation’ out to 2030, covering areas such as trade, energy, maritime security, emergency planning, and culture.
Speaking ahead of the Summit, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that over the course of the Summit, “we will discuss how we can strengthen competitiveness and resilience and reduce the cost of living, harness the potential of our shared seas while protecting our marine environment, deliver essential infrastructure at pace and scale, and ensure energy affordability and energy security across Ireland and the UK”.
The Irish Government delegation at the Summit includes Taoiseach Micheál Martin; Tánaiste Simon Harris; Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence, Helen McEntee; Minister for Climate, Environment, Energy and Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien; and Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan.
The UK Government delegation comprises Prime Minister Keir Starmer; Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband; Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn; Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds; and Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle.
The UK is Ireland’s second largest trading partner, with annual bilateral trade increasing over the last ten years by 107 percent to €129 billion.
Ireland meanwhile is the UK’s sixth largest trading partner, with Irish companies employing approximately 150,000 people in the UK at present.