{"id":628646,"date":"2026-09-18T15:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/628646\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T15:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:00:12","slug":"ireland-and-britain-have-very-significant-obligations-to-good-friday-agreement-taoiseach-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/628646\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland and Britain have \u2018very significant obligations\u2019 to Good Friday Agreement, Taoiseach says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland and Britain have \u201cvery significant obligations\u201d to uphold and progress the Good Friday Agreement<\/a>, the Taoiseach has said.<\/p>\n

Speaking alongside British prime minister Andy Burnham<\/a> in Manchester, Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> said it was important that the two neighbours continue \u201cthe very strong engagement\u201d amid global uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement. We have very significant obligations to mind it and to progress it,\u201d the Taoiseach said.<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham said the relationship between Ireland and Britain matters \u201cso much on every single level\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cClose to home, as co-custodians of the Good Friday Agreement, we are working together to uphold its principles as we approach the 30th anniversary next year,\u201d Mr Burnham said.<\/p>\n

Good Friday Agreement<\/p>\n

The comments from the two leaders come after US president Donald Trump<\/a> gave momentum to discussions around Irish unity by backing the matter<\/a> during a recent visit to Ireland.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said discussions would also focus on building stronger and closer links between the UK and the EU, while praising Mr Burnham and the British Government<\/a> for their leadership on Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Mr Burnham thanked Mr Martin for the role Ireland had played within the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine, through what he described as a \u201cdifficult time\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"BritishBritish prime minister Andy Burnham greets Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin to No 10 North, Manchester, ahead of a meeting. Picture: Oli Scarff\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach added that Mr Burnham had shown \u201cleadership\u201d on issues in the Middle East<\/a>, particularly citing his \u201cstanding up for the humanitarian needs and rights of the Palestinian people<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said Palestinians were \u201cgoing through horrific conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ireland and Manchester<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach also spoke of the strong links between Manchester and Ireland, particularly highlighting the links with Cork<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin referred to cricketer Noel Cantwell, as well as mentioning that two Cork men, Denis Irwin and Roy Keane<\/a>, captained Manchester United<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose connections are enduring and they\u2019re long, and hope springs eternal on the football side,\u201d Mr Martin said.<\/p>\n

The two met for the first time since Mr Burnham became prime minister at the new office of No 10 North, located in Manchester city centre.<\/p>\n

Following their meeting, they are due to travel to the Brian Boru Irish club in Mr Burnham\u2019s Makerfield constituency. The club has claimed to be the oldest Irish club in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland and Britain have \u201cvery significant obligations\u201d to uphold and progress the Good Friday Agreement, the Taoiseach has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5658,4712,85530,94996,79,969,12108,61,11829,60,917,1843,43,2040,52345],"class_list":["post-628646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-irish-examiner-instagram","tag-israel-palestine","tag-andy-burnham","tag-british-government","tag-cork-news","tag-donald-trump","tag-good-friday-agreement","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-ireland","tag-manchester-united","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-ukraine","tag-video-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}