British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told Taoiseach Micheál Martin that the United Kingdom wants to take further steps to deepen its relationship with Europe, at talks in Manchester on September 18.
Martin became the first international leader received at No 10 North, the government base Burnham opened at Heron House in July and where he intends to work one day each week.
“In Europe, we are looking forward to a UK-EU summit later this year,” Burnham said, adding that London wanted to move closer to the bloc while Ireland held the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Ireland took over the six-month rotating presidency on July 1. Its programme is built around competitiveness, values and security.
Downing Street said the two leaders had reaffirmed the partnership between the two countries and their shared commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, before turning to the legacy of the Troubles and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
They also restated their support for Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion and looked ahead to the next UK-Ireland summit, due in the first half of 2027.
While the leaders met, Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey was in Dublin for an informal meeting of EU finance ministers hosted by the Irish presidency.
Healey went to press the British case for exemptions from the European Commission’s “Made in Europe” procurement plans, which would favour European suppliers in public contracts. Treasury sources said he would urge capitals to apply the rules in a way that “lands a good deal for all”.
The draft European preference scheme would let contracting authorities reject bids for large or strategic contracts where European content accounted for less than half the value.
France has driven the push for a strict standard, while Germany has favoured a looser “Made with Europe” formula open to trusted partners. The Commission has put annual public purchasing across the EU at about €2 trillion.
Martin used the visit to thank Burnham for hardening London’s line on Israel, after the British Government stiffened sanctions over West Bank settlements.
The meeting followed a visit to Ireland by US President Donald Trump, who said a united Ireland would happen eventually, and came days after Sinn Féin, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru signed a pact in Cardiff urging London to prepare for constitutional change.
Burnham, who took office on July 20 after Keir Starmer resigned, is the seventh British prime minister in a decade. He has made the transfer of power out of Westminster a central theme of his premiership.
Ireland is the United Kingdom’s sixth-largest trading partner and the Dublin-London route is the busiest intra-European air link, according to the British Embassy in Dublin.
