British-Irish Council: Keir Starmer to meet NI and ROI leaders

Analysis: ‘Envy of a parliamentary majority’

Sir Keir Starmer has met Micheál Martin and Simon Harris before.

But the timing of this meeting is interesting, coming just a week after the Irish general election.

Oh, how enviously the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael leaders must view his parliamentary majority, which currently stands at 156.

They are currently two short of one, and Martin says it will be after Christmas before a coalition government is formed.

Often past meetings of the British-Irish Council have been overshadowed by stalemate at Stormont.

Not this time.

The First and Deputy First Ministers, Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly have now been in place longer than their Scottish and Welsh counterparts, after upheaval in Edinburgh and Cardiff, while Sir Keir only got his hands on power in July.

When the leaders hold a joint news conference around lunchtime, expect questions on the legacy of the Troubles, the Protocol, and next week’s big vote at Stormont, and, of course, trying to form a government in Dublin before we all forget what happened at the polls.