The reset in British-Irish relations is in danger of over-writing the Belfast Agreement. Prime minister Keir Starmer visited Taoiseach Simon Harris at Farmleigh House in Dublin last Saturday. Afterwards, a joint statement announced annual UK-Ireland summits will be held every March from next year, focusing on four key areas of co-operation: security, climate, trade and culture. This duplicates the main east-west institution of the Belfast Agreement, the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC), which is meant to involve regular meetings of both governments, with summits of the Taoiseach and the prime minister “as required”.
The BIIGC was the primary forum for British-Irish engagement until the 2006 St Andrews Agreement. Then it fell into disuse for 12 years, amid a view that its work was done: security was a key part of its remit and Sinn Féin had finally agreed to the devolution of policing and justice. Both governments revived it after Brexit, but attention has been sporadic, largely due to Tory chaos. The new annual summits are a separate exercise.
The BIIGC is not tied to Northern Ireland issues: its remit covers “bilateral co-operation at all levels on all matters of mutual interest within the competence of both governments”. The new summits will not avoid Northern Ireland........