Burnham meeting an opportunity for 'momentum' - Taoiseach

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said a meeting with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is an opportunity to "inject further momentum" into the partnership between the two governments.

The Taoiseach is meeting Mr Burnham in Manchester today - becoming the first international leader to visit Number 10 North, the new North of England outpost of Downing Street.

As well as British-Irish bilateral issues like trade, the two leaders will discuss Northern Ireland, the planned EU-UK summit in November, and international issues ahead of next weeks UN General Assembly.

It is their first meeting since Mr Burnham became Prime Minster - but the two have met several times previously, especially when Mr Burnham was Mayor of Greater Manchester and led trade delegations to Ireland.

Mr Burnham said: "I'm delighted to be hosting the Taoiseach as the first international leader to visit No 10 North - this is a historic moment and a proud day for Manchester.

"No 10 North is all about creating opportunities for working people, and our partnership with Ireland as we improve the lives of people in both of our countries is a key part of that.

"There is so much we can achieve together: from our shared commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, to trade, to working with Europe and supporting Ukraine. We are the closest of friends, and I look forward to further strengthening that friendship."

Ahead of the meeting, the Taoiseach said the momentum of the UK-Ireland relationship was being realized through the UK-Ireland programme of strategic co-operation.

The Taoiseach said they will also discuss a number of matters relating to Northern Ireland which he said will include "the Joint Framework on addressing the legacy of the Troubles, and the importance now of making progress in implementing what has been agreed for the sake of victims and survivors, and wider reconciliation across these islands".

"We will also discuss how best to work in partnership to sustain the overall success of the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts in the time ahead," he added.

Mr Martin said the talks in Manchester will also cover EU and international issues, including Ireland’s current Presidency of the Council of the EU and the next EU-UK Summit, and the situation in Ukraine, Gaza and the Middle East more broadly.

Ten days ago, the UK announced a major change in policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, joining Ireland and ten other countries in agreeing to ban trade with Israeli firms doing business in the West Bank.

Meeting surrounded by fast-moving international diplomacy

The meeting in No 10 North comes at a time of fast moving international diplomacy. On Wednesday Mr Burnham met the Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte in Oxford. Later that same day, he met Canadian Prime Minster Mark Carney in Liverpool.

That was in between European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen offering Canada "associate membership" of the ELU, and Mr Carney’s own speech to the European Parliament yesterday, setting out his ideas for a closer relationship.

The evolving Canada-EU relationship may contain ideas for future EU-UK relations. The Labour party government in the UK has been seeking a "reset" in relations with the EU since coming to power two years ago.

The EU and UK are due to hold a summit meeting, which both sides would like to happen in November, during the six-month Irish Presidency of the EU.

On Monday, the leaders of Plaid Cymru, The Scottish National Party and Sinn Fein met in Cardiff, pledging to work together to get referendums on Irish unity, Scottish Independence and more power for Wales.

Since May, Nationalist parties have held the first Minster position in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the first time this has happened.

UK separation referendums 'off the table'

Mr Burnham’s own commitment to moving political power outside of Westminster - of which No 10 North is a concrete expression - is a sign that constitutional change of some sort is underway in the UK, referendums on separation are currently "off the table".

Mr Burnham clarified his remarks on a Northern Ireland unification poll in the House of Commons last week, restating the Good Friday Agreement formula – that the timing of a referendum is up to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, based on them forming the view that a majority exists for unification.

But in the same answer, he added that he expected the same would apply to Scotland.

That was seized on by SNP leader John Swinney, the Scottish First Minster, who said Mr Burnham had recognized the right of the Scottish people to decide their own future.

He said the logic of Mr Burnham's argument means "he will be the last Prime Minster of the United Kingdom, because the people of Scotland, if given the choice of Independence in a referendum, will take that choice".

The meeting between the Taoiseach and Mr Burnham comes days before the UN General Assembly in New York, where Mr Burnham may meet US President Donald Trump.

President Trump was in Ireland last weekend, and met the Taoiseach for formal talks at Farmleigh House.

The meeting comes just days after US President Donald Trump made headlines bysaying he would "love to see" a united Ireland while at a meeting with the Taoiseach during a visit in Dublin.

Mr Trump said a united Ireland would "happen eventually" and that the Taoiseach was "the right man over here to get it moving".

After their talks, Mr Martin and Mr Burnham will meet members of the Irish Community in Greater Manchester.