Irish Examiner view: What does Andy Burnham’s elevation mean for us?

The revolving cast of prime ministers has been no great boon for relations between Ireland and Britain

It was notable that one of British prime minister Andy Burnham’s earliest calls was to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, a chat described by the latter as a “very good discussion on the positive relationship and co-operation between Ireland and the UK.”

Andy Burnham, the new UK prime minister, has hit the ground running, naming a new cabinet and making his first phone calls to other leaders from 10 Downing Street.

He is the seventh occupant of that address in a decade, an unprecedented period of instability in British politics. As Paul Hosford noted in these pages recently, that level of upheaval is not good for any country, no matter how entertaining it may seem to outsiders such as ourselves.