In their first meeting since becoming Taoiseach, Micheál Martin and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met in Northern Ireland on 13 August. According to Mr Martin, a desire to reach a sensible Brexit agreement emanated from the meeting.

The two leaders met to discuss the impact of COVID-19, the Brexit negotiations and the future UK/Ireland relationship. In their post-meeting comments, both said they had agreed to work to put structures together to ensure the relationship is not “lost” and is instead nurtured and developed further. Both Mr Johnson and Mr Martin agreed that the last thing either economy need is another shock in addition to COVID-19 so it was in everyone’s interest to agree a free trade agreement between the EU and the UK.