Joint statement between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Micheál Martin: 6 March 2025
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-06)

Joint statement between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Micheál Martin following UK-Ireland Summit.

UK-Ireland 2030 Joint Statement

This Joint Statement represents the starting point for a strengthened relationship between the UK and Ireland, informed by our co-guarantorship of the Good Friday Agreement, and to be taken forward through an ambitious programme of co-operation between our two countries through to 2030.

The time has come to commit anew to delivering on the promise of our unique partnership to the benefit of current and future generations living across these islands.

Our renewed programme of co-operation will be taken forward in a spirit of respect and affinity, and by a shared ambition to reach the potential of our partnership across our islands, recognising that, in a changing world beyond our shores, the benefits and significance of a stronger and more settled relationship between our two countries have never been greater.

The UK and Ireland working together at home and across the globe

In a challenging geo-political and international security environment, Ireland and the UK confirm our commitment to the global multilateral system and international law as the foundations on which all our international engagement and partnerships are built.

Building on these foundations, we will work together to strengthen international institutions for peace, promote conflict prevention, peace-building, sustainable development and climate action internationally. Today, we have agreed in particular to collaborate on a strategic approach to the United Nations’ Peacebuilding Architecture Review and the World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict, Violence (FCV) Strategy. We also agree to collaborate on the Women, Peace and Security agenda and to pilot a joint lesson-sharing from the Northern Ireland peace process in an agreed priority country.

We will support this intensification of our co-operation on foreign and security policy issues through annual political consultations.

Continuing to ensure the safety and security of the people who live in Ireland and the United Kingdom is a priority we share.

National resilience remains a priority for both of us. We will strengthen co-operation and information sharing on emergency planning to best protect our peoples across these islands.

We will strengthen our co-operation in the area of maritime security, with a particular focus on critical undersea infrastructure, which will require greater international co-operation, including closer co-operation between Ireland and the UK.

We value our good working relationship at an operational level on cyber security and will continue to co-operate to ensure that the sharing of information and best practices contribute to higher levels of cyber security across both countries. We will also work to develop approaches that benefit both countries particularly in the areas of skills development, cyber hygiene awareness and research projects.

Since 2015, the UK and Ireland have cooperated on defence on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding. We will pursue implementation of all aspects of that agreement, particularly in the areas of military training and education. To reflect the rebuilding and strengthening of our partnership, today we agree to review and update the Memorandum of Understanding on Defence by our next Summit in this series.

We will continue to develop these areas of work, including through our structured security dialogue at senior official level.

We will strengthen existing co-operation on criminal, civil and family law matters and exchange expertise on justice systems challenges, as well as collaborating on the rule of law and its promotion overseas. We will continue to work together to tackle threats to safety online.

Ensuring a strategic and efficient approach to our shared maritime space to mobilise investment, support a healthy marine environment and provide clean energy for our islands

We recognise the critical importance of the Celtic and Irish Seas and are committed to working together to harness their potential by deepening co-operation on offshore energy and interconnection, to help ensure our collective energy security as part of the green transition to net zero.

Our countries are uniquely linked, not least through shared energy infrastructure and the Single Electricity Market (SEM) on the island of Ireland. This means we share common long-term challenges, including the need for secure, competitive, and sustainable sources of energy.

We welcome recent progress on closer working between our countries in this regard, including through our two bilateral Memoranda of Understanding, and the opportunity for more formal co-operation between British and Irish system operators (EirGrid, Gas Networks Ireland, National Energy System Operator and National Gas).

In order to meet our ambitious decarbonisation targets, we have agreed today to work together to mobilise investment into strategic infrastructure in the Irish and Celtic Seas by establishing frameworks to guide private investment and removing barriers to trade and investment.

In this regard, we have agreed that our respective maritime policy, licensing and regulatory bodies will work together to establish co-operation in relation to data collection and usage, to continue to improve the management of the maritime area in the Irish and Celtic Seas through robust marine planning that includes a clear focus on our shared marine environment.

We have also agreed to undertake new joint initiatives on mapping the sea basin to improve interoperability and resilience in UK and Irish waters, and to deepen existing co-operation on maritime decarbonisation, including on our joint efforts to establish green maritime corridors.

We will also broaden our existing Energy transition MoU to include industrial decarbonisation; knowledge sharing and exchanging best practices around retrofitting of homes and Community Benefit Funds; as well as formalising a staff exchange programme between UK and Ireland energy departments and agencies.

Due to its geography, engineering expertise and interconnection to both Ireland and Great Britain, Northern Ireland can benefit from and be at the forefront of the clean energy transition. Co-operation between governments on infrastructure development will be key in both enabling Northern Ireland to have a renewable generation capacity of 3,550 MW by 2030 in order to deliver the target of 80% of electricity consumption from renewable sources, as well as supporting the Northern Ireland Executive’s ambition for 1GW of offshore wind from 2030 and Ireland’s ambition of at least 5GW of offshore wind by 2030, including through developing and supporting an all-island supply chain.

Through our continuing co-operation we can act coherently and strategically, developing and sharing research and technical innovation to address our shared challenges, which in turn will deliver significant economic and social benefits to communities across our islands.

Agile, open economies working together to attract investment, innovate from knowledge and accelerate growth

The UK and Ireland are particularly close economic partners with a bilateral trade relationship worth approximately 100 billion euros annually. Ireland is the UK’s 6th largest trading partner and the UK is Ireland’s second largest trading partner and we are committed to building on these ties in order to attract new investment and accelerate economic growth across our two countries.

Today we welcome substantial new investment announcements across a range of sectors including Digital, AI and Technology that are testimony to continued confidence in our economies and to the importance of our business and trading bilateral relationship. These commitments to invest will bring new jobs and opportunities to local communities and help drive up economic growth.

The UK and Ireland have a longstanding partnership in sharing knowledge and experience in progressing infrastructure projects, and we share an ambition to accelerate the delivery of sustainable and resilient infrastructure to drive economic growth, enable new forms of economic activity, accelerate the transition to Net Zero by 2050, and support the delivery of housing and high-quality public services over the next decade. Our countries and businesses are investing heavily in achieving this ambition but also face common challenges, including in relation to capacity and productivity. We have strong existing collaborations in the transport, housing and energy sectors, and today have agreed a new Framework for Co-operation to support infrastructure delivery to deepen these partnerships and extend them to further areas of mutual interest, including digital and modern methods of construction technologies.

Today, we also reaffirm our support to small business in both countries and commit to working together to establish an SME Dialogue focused on sharing good practices in nurturing growth and productivity amongst SMEs to maximise commercial opportunities.

We will also establish an Economic Security Exchange to share good practices and experiences, and develop common understandings in key areas for the economic security and prosperity of our two nations.

The UK and Ireland share a close bilateral relationship in science, innovation and technology and commit to building on this through our collaboration within the current Horizon European Research and Innovation Framework Programme, including encouraging national contact points to work closely together. We agree to convene regular meetings between UKRI and Research Ireland to discuss issues of mutual interest and monitor and identify multilateral and bilateral opportunities.

In early 2024, we launched the research Co-Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Water, seeking to deliver solutions to the pressing challenges posed by climate change, biodiversity decline, and water degradation; and the Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, seeking to drive societal and political change in food system transformation and transition to climate neutrality by 2050. Following the launch of these Co-Centres, UKRI and Research Ireland will work together and with the Northern Ireland Executive to monitor progress and identify future opportunities to bring together researchers and innovators across the UK and Ireland.

Developing the deep ties between our people and cultures

We recognise the unique ability of arts, culture and sport to forge and foster ties between people across these islands.

We value the extraordinary influence and contribution of British and Irish cultures and heritages to the artistic and cultural wealth of the public realm and creative industries and institutions in both our countries. In recognition of this, today, we agree to establish a strategic partnership to deepen and amplify co-operation between our leading cultural institutions and to support wider public engagement with the contemporary culture and heritage of both our countries. Over the coming five years, this will comprise a range of measures to support collaborations in programming, professional exchange, research and policy, and an annual joint meeting of our leading cultural institutions each autumn.

We look forward to our joint hosting of the EURO2028 Men’s Football Championship and the 2030 T20 Men’s Cricket World Cup and will work to ensure that both tournaments are enjoyed across these islands. We will explore future co-hosting opportunities in the area of sports.

We recognise that to reach the potential of our partnership across these islands, we need to understand and respond to the aspirations and views of young people. Today, we have agreed to establish an Ireland-UK Youth Forum to bring together young people across these islands on an annual basis to discuss issues of importance to them and to make recommendations about how they can be addressed for consideration by both our governments.

In order to build stronger connectivity amongst our children and young people, we will also encourage greater co-operation and contact between our schools and education systems. This will include areas such as early years learning and provision, social mobility, opportunity and inclusion; special education provision; curriculum and assessment reform; teacher professional development; and integrated education.

We will promote greater understanding of educational opportunities for full-time students through improved knowledge, guidance and information using higher education entrance systems.

The uniquely rich and dynamic connections between people across these islands are supported and made possible by our long-standing Common Travel Area arrangement. We remain firmly committed to working together to protect the integrity and security of the Common Travel Area. Recognising also the importance of the Common Travel Area in facilitating the daily lives of citizens across these islands, we will work together to minimise barriers to work or travel for those who benefit from it.

Underpinning our co-operation is our shared ambition of a more reconciled, peaceful and prosperous Northern Ireland. In progressing our co-operation across the board, we will ensure that our partnership includes and benefits Northern Ireland. We commit to ensure the successful delivery of the 2021-2027 PeacePlus programme and are agreed in principle to a successor programme.

We agree to establish a UK-Ireland 2030 Steering Group led by the UK Cabinet Office and Department of the Taoiseach in order to take forward the range of commitments we are making today. Together we will ensure this complements the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and their crucial role at the heart of our essential and unique relationship.