DUBLIN, Sept 7, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets his Irish counterpart Simon Harris in Dublin on Saturday, in the first visit by a British leader to Ireland in five years and as London looks to reset damaged relations with EU nations after Brexit.

The visit, described by Downing Street as a "historic moment for UK-Ireland relations", signals a further warming in bilateral ties that frayed under the previous Conservative government.

It "marks a new era of co-operation and friendship between Britain and Ireland", said a statement by Downing Street announcing the visit across the Irish Sea.

Harris, who became taioseach (prime minister) in April, was the first international leader hosted by Starmer in the UK soon after his landslide election win in July.

The pair chatted over pints of Ireland's national drink, Guinness, at the British prime minister's country residence, Chequers, northwest of London, before a larger meeting of European leaders.

After the Chequers meeting, the pair said the "time was right for a reset of the partnership", noting the "ties which bind both countries span geography and history".

The focus on "resetting" Anglo-Irish relations marks a notable shift in language after the last few years saw tensions rise between Dublin and London.

Britons narrowly voted to leave the EU at a landmark referendum in 2016 and the country finally left the bloc in 2020 after years of political division and stalemate.

Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson's hard break from the EU was widely seen as destabilising relations between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Since taking power Starmer has moved to begin the repeal of a law granting conditional immunity to perpetrators of crimes during the "Troubles" era of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, fiercely opposed by relatives of those who lost their lives.

During the trip the leaders are expected to reaffirm the Good Friday Agreement, the landmark peace accord brokered in 1998, and their committment to reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

Starmer is also scheduled to meet Irish business leaders in Dublin and encourage enhanced bilateral trade and investment.

Both leaders will later attend the Ireland versus England Nations' League football match on Saturday evening.