Meeting of Martin and Sunak could be the first step toward improved Irish-British relations

Blackpool, like the relationship between Dublin and London, has seen better days. Hopes are high that both can be returned to former glories

British prime minister Rishi Sunak meets Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the British-Irish Council summit in Blackpool. Picture: Cameron Smith/PA

Blackpool in England's north is home to eight of the ten most deprived neighbourhoods in England, and is undergoing a multi-billion pound regeneration attempt.

In that spirit, it is a fitting place for a British Irish Council meeting not just themed around sustainability and regeneration, but which also saw an attempt to regenerate Anglo-Irish relations, as Rishi Sunak became the first British Prime Minister since Gordon Brown to attend a session.

There, he and Taoiseach Micheál Martin had a bilateral meeting, their first face-to-face get together since Mr Sunak's election to the highest office in the UK. 

The meeting kicked off as a cadre of Irish journalists waited on the footpath outside the hotel, the victims of a communications error, it seems. You would hope that the relationship in the room was warmer than the hacks who shivered on the seafront as they waited for admittance.

No clear answers

The two men joked as they spoke about meeting on the fringes of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt earlier this week, but asked by media if he was confident the Northern Ireland Protocol impasse could be resolved, Mr Sunak failed to answer. 

He did not answer about possibly delaying the Protocol legislation in the Lords as a gesture of goodwill, either. In the shadow of the rollercoaster they call The Big One, no real answer on the issue which is the big one on the island of Ireland.

After the sit-down, the Taoiseach was enthused, saying that he believed that it was a new dawn in the relationship between the neighbouring countries and praising Mr Sunak for showing up at all, given the conspicuous absences of his predecessors.

Asked if he agreed with the obvious and cliched likening of the diplomatic relations to the aforementioned thrill ride, the Taoiseach said that he hoped things were now on the up.

He referenced not the meeting, but a reception he'd had with members of the Liverpool and Manchester communities, at which he met Irish football legend Denis Irwin, and Cork sporting royalty Brian Barry Murphy, now a coach at Man City. 

Both Barrs men were reminded of the outcome when the Taoiseach's Nemo Rangers met the Barrs in the Cork county final on October 30, no doubt.

Mr Martin said that Mr Sunak will drive the relationship between the two countries "back to the centre".

I think politics always at the best of times can go up and down and there can be all sorts of situations in politics. That is the nature of politics. 

"But one of the things that struck me today was when I was in Manchester again meeting the members of both Liverpool and Manchester, the strength of the relationship between Ireland and Britain is a very deep, familial, cultural, sporting political, economic, and ethical enterprise and client companies were expanding here. Again, dealing with the same issues of sustainability. 

"So that relationship is very strong. And I think that drives the political relationship, inevitably back to the centre, and that's what I sensed this evening of the meeting with Rishi Sunak. He understands that and that's something we need to build on."

Blackpool, like the relationship between Dublin and London, has seen better days. But with a bit of work and investment, hopes are high that both can be returned to former glories.