New PM meets political leaders at Stormont

Sir Keir Starmer has met the first and deputy first ministers at Stormont Castle as part of his first visit to Northern Ireland as prime minister.

The Labour leader is on a tour of the UK after becoming prime minister on Friday and visiting Scotland on Sunday.

He was accompanied by the new Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn and his chief of staff and former senior Stormont civil servant Sue Gray.

He also met representatives from the Executive and opposition parties.

Ahead of the meetings, Sir Keir said “stability and certainty” would be at the centre of what his government does for Northern Ireland.

“We are the party of the Good Friday Agreement, and the stability it has brought,” he said.

“Together, as we take the steps towards a decade of national renewal, we will harness Northern Ireland’s vast economic strengths – rebuilding strong public services and generating real and tangible economic growth for working people.

“We must turn the page and secure investment, prosperity, and stability for future generations to come.”

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald described her party’s talks with the new prime minister as “constructive and very friendly”.

She said dealing with the new Labour government, compared to the previous Conservative government, was like the difference between "daylight and dark".

One of the issues discussed at the short meeting was funding for the redevelopment of Casement Park stadium in west Belfast.

Ms McDonald said: “We expect to see progress on that matter in the near future.”

She was joined at the meeting by First Minister Michelle O’Neill and MPs John Finucane and Pat Cullen.

Also discussed at the talks was funding for public services in Northern Ireland, the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the situation in Gaza.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson said he believes his party will have a good relationship with the new prime minister.

He described the meeting as "very productive" and highlighted the importance of devolution.

After meeting Sir Keir at Stormont, Mr Robinson described him as a “unionist” and someone who has a detailed grasp of Northern Ireland.

Asked if he trusted the new prime minister, he said he liked him.

Mr Robinson was accompanied at the meeting by Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Stormont Education Minister Paul Givan and MP Sammy Wilson.

Alliance leader Naomi Long said she had a "constructive and positive meeting" with both Sir Keir and the Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn.

She said the prime minister was keen to increase stability across the UK, and that it was put to him that in Northern Ireland "fiscal and political reform" was a baseline in order for this to work.

Mrs Long also said she was feeling positive about renewed east-west relations.

"Hopefully this will mark a new start both in terms of relationships between Belfast and London but also I would hope London and Dublin," she said.

"Certainly the last government I think left us with a very toxic legacy, and I hope that will be reversed under the current prime minister."

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie said he raised the need for more funding for public services, particularly the health service, with the prime minister.

Bringing both the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt and former Health Minister and newly elected South Antrim MP Robin Swann with him, Mr Beattie said the meeting was "very positive" and could be used to build upon relationships.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Colum Eastwood said he felt a “collective sigh of relief” at the end of the Conservative government.

He added that Sir Keir is someone "who gets it" and that whilst they had a good discussion, the PM recognised the party would be holding him to account on key issues such as Casement Park and the Legacy Act.

“This seems like a new dawn,” he said.

The new Secretary of State Hilary Benn arrived in Northern Ireland on Saturday and held talks with most of the main political parties.

On Sunday, he visited businesses in Belfast city centre, where he told reporters that Casement Park “has to be built”, but urged people to bear with him while he ploughs through the issues.

Labour has been urged by political parties and sporting organisations to commit funding to ensure the stadium can be redeveloped in time for Euro 2028.

Casement Park, a Gaelic games stadium, hasn't hosted a game since 2013 but is earmarked to be Northern Ireland's sole venue for the tournament if it can be redeveloped in time.

There have been plans to build a new stadium there since 2011 at an original cost about of £76m, with £61m coming from Northern Ireland's power-sharing government and £15m from the GAA.

But delays and spiralling construction costs means it has now been suggested that it could cost more than £300m.

Mr Benn said he wouldn’t be pressured into saying Casement Park will be built in time for the Euros in 2028 but said “as soon as I’m in a position to make that decision I will”.

He previously said a Labour government could not write a “blank cheque” for the redevelopment.

It was the earliest of starts at Stormont for a prime minister who appears to have no time to waste.

First, a double-headed welcome at Stormont Castle from the first and deputy first ministers as Sir Keir arrived, flanked by his chief of staff, Sue Gray, who knows the corridors of power here well.

She was, in a previous incarnation, the top civil servant in Stormont’s department of finance.

A brief meeting followed by a quick trek up the hill to Parliament Buildings, the home of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

His meetings with each of the five main parties is expected to last about 10 minutes.

They’ve all met him before but consider this a reset; after 14 years of Conservative rule that led to fractured relations with Northern Ireland, Labour seems intent on changing that for the better.

But already there are points of contention.

The prime minister has previously said a border poll is not “even on the horizon”, but Sinn Féin’s President Mary Lou McDonald said it would be “foolhardy” for the prime minister to bury his head in the sand on that.

Unionist parties will seek to push the opposite argument in the new PM’s direction.

Sir Keir has experience of the complexities of Northern Ireland politics, but he will have to walk an even more careful line now that he is in the biggest job in UK politics.