Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy McAuliffe and formally congratulate him on his re-election to the House. I was pleased to have an opportunity to speak with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on 27 January. It is important that this was one of the first calls I had an opportunity to make on taking office because the relationship between Ireland and the UK is of fundamental importance. This is reflected in our many close people-to-people links, our significant levels of two-way trade and the depth and breadth of our shared interests and values in many areas. I welcomed, in my conversation with the Foreign Secretary, the renewed warmth in our bilateral relationship. That warmth is real. The term "reset" is often used but I genuinely believe the reset in Anglo-Irish relations is real and meaningful. It has allowed our Governments to work together to rebuild relations between our countries, relations which had gone through a very rocky patch, to put it mildly, in recent years. It allows us to realise this ambition of good close neighbours working together with a common purpose and to our full potential. Our roles and responsibilities as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement remain a bedrock of the relationship and a solemn duty both Governments have.

My call with the Foreign Secretary was, equally, an important opportunity to discuss the common global and security challenges that we face. We focused in particular on Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan. Not to digress but the issue of Sudan is still not given nearly enough attention in terms of the scale of devastation there. We also shared perspectives on the transatlantic relationship and working with the new Administration in the United States. The Foreign Secretary and I agreed to meet in person soon to engage further on these and other important issues. I think we will both be at the Munich Security Conference and in South Africa at the G20. During our call, I welcomed the UK's renewed positive engagement on EU-UK relations. The current global environment is a challenging one. As partners with many shared interests and values, there is real potential to work together on pressing global and security challenges. I look forward to working with the Foreign Secretary on these matters.

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