Paul Hosford: Forgive us our prayers for bland political pragmatism

After the meeting in Chequers, Simon Harris practically bounded out to the returning press pack and was effusive in his praise of Keir Starmer, writes Paul Hosford

British prime minister Keir Starmer, left, and Taoiseach Simon Harris take a walk of the grounds during Mr Harris’ visit to Chequers, the country house of Mr Starmer, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. Picture: Carl Court/PA

Simon Harris didn’t bite.

Asked in the baking sun in front of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England, if a second Trump presidency would worry him, the Taoiseach was too level to create any headlines — saying that he wouldn’t get involved in US politics and didn’t think we’d take well to a US politician doing the same here.

Ireland will, Mr Harris said, get to work with whomever prevails in America’s election in November.

The only problem with that level-headedness is that it is not being reciprocated across the water, as Donald Trump’s prospective vice-president, JD Vance, has already happily inserted himself into Irish politics.

In December, Mr Vance released a press release in which he revealed he had written to the Irish ambassador to the US, Geraldine Byrne Nason, to slam a proposed hate speech law as “authoritarian legislation pending in the Irish parliament that would severely undermine freedom of speech in the country”.

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Mr Vance, the self-proclaimed “Scots-Irish hillbilly at heart”, wasn’t done there.

He showed his bona fides on Irish history by quoting none other than Dev

“Given that President de Valera himself was imprisoned for sedition in 1918, I urge your Government to consider the impact of this legislation on Ireland’s proud tradition of free speech,” Mr Vance said.

He said the proposals would “criminalise speech that causes too much discomfort for people” and that “there are only two genders”.

Mr Vance, a best-selling author turned senator who once told a friend that Mr Trump could be “America’s Hitler”, said that “the US routinely condemns similar censorious conduct from China, Myanmar, or Iran”.

Mr Vance then directed readers of the press release to The Daily Signal, a website owned by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, which had published the press release as an exclusive and said the proposed laws would “undermine Irish citizens’ freedom of speech”.

The hate speech law itself was not on the agenda as the Dáil went on recess last week and whether or not it returns to the Oireachtas in the autumn is anyone’s guess, but it has become an online talking point latched onto by those on the the right as evidence of a Government overreach.

Mr Vance, who appears to have gone all-in on the online culture wars, is just one of many American figures who had their say on the law — which has been criticised from all sides here.

That a second Trump presidency looks likely at this point is not something that is causing all out panic in Dublin, but there is an acknowledgement that it has been easier to work with Joe Biden’s administration than Trump’s.

Part of that is down to Mr Biden’s well-publicised grá for the country, but much of it is down to the fact that Mr Biden has been predictable and steady since assuming office in 2021.

What a second term of the mercurial Mr Trump looks like is anyone’s guess, with many of the supposed brakes of his first four years thrown off.

He has pledged to cut the US tax rate to 15% and carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, which could impact Irish businesses and people, but the major question around both Mr Trump and Mr Vance is their stance on the war in Ukraine. In Brussels, they have been preparing as best they can for a second Trump presidency for some time.

Donald Trump signs paperwork to officially accept the nomination during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, joined by his wife Melania. Picture: Evan Vucci/AP

A Politico report in January suggested that Mr Trump had told the EU he would not step in if Europe came under attack.

In March, a senior EU official said that Mr Trump’s lack of predictability made planning for his re-election in November difficult.

The official added that, while planning is underway for Mr Trump to beat incumbent Joe Biden in November’s US election, much of it is “mental preparation”.

“How can you prepare for that which is unpredictable? You plan for unpredictability,” the official said.

On top of that, US president Joe Biden is under increasing pressure to drop out of the race altogether, with every day seeming to bring a new question about his mental competence.

Over the last decade, Ireland has sometimes felt almost sane with the tumult of each of our neighbours on both coasts.

With the spectre of a US vice-president who happily reads back former Irish presidents to our ambassador, Ireland could be forgiven for praying for bland pragmatism off its east coast.

Enter Keir Starmer.

The Labour leader managed an emphatic electoral win, despite picking up fewer votes than his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn in the British election two weeks ago.

There is no wave of Starmer-mania in England but, on the Irish side, there are some big fans

Mr Starmer’s bona fides on Ireland are well-established. He served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, honeymooned in the North, and has an affection for Donegal.

So when he invited Mr Harris to London this week, it was no great surprise — even if the Anglo-Irish relationship hasn’t seemed to be top of the agenda in Downing St for the guts of a decade.

However, Mr Starmer is all about “resetting” the relationship and about a “new chapter”.

In that spirit, Mr Starmer brought Mr Harris to his country home of Chequers in the Chilterns countryside, with the Taoiseach stopping into the local Russell Arms pub for a few minutes to await his host who had earlier that day seen parliament opened by Britain’s King Charles III.

That the meeting took place in Chequers meant that the assorted media spent much of the time raising phones to the air in a vain search for data reception, in a largely futile bid to file copy and video.

Here, in the country retreat of a world leader, a cadre of hacks was dispatched back to the Russell Arms, where staff advised that the best reception was out at the former phone box turned defibrillator.

That advice was later contradicted by another member of staff, who said that the adjacent stop sign was, in fact, the sweet spot.

After the meeting, Mr Harris practically bounded out to the returning press pack and was effusive in his praise of Mr Starmer.

However, he was keen to hammer home the practicalities of meeting.

The holders of his and Mr Starmer’s offices will host a summit every year that will agree a programme of work.

Sensible, pragmatic, and simple. A breath of fresh if somewhat dull air.

Ireland is a rock in the middle of the Atlantic that for many years has been affected by the tumult of the two nations with which it is most culturally close.

For the next few months, that tumult will be at a low ebb in terms of governance as boring practicality wins out.

However, it remaining that way seems unlikely.