Skip to content

Downing Street hosts first St Patrick's Day reception

PA Media A man in a navy suit, white shirt and green tie hold a pint glass with black liquid with a cream coloured top. He has grey hair and glasses. Behind him are dozens of people, out of focus, in an orange painted room.PA Media

The first reception to mark St Patrick's Day has been held at Downing Street.

It comes amid a thaw in relations between the UK and Irish governments.

Earlier this month at a joint summit, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the administrations had "turned a page on the turbulent years" of Brexit, which strained relations with Dublin.

Speaking at Wednesday's event he said that Northern Ireland was a place which was close to his heart and the Good Friday Agreement was the greatest achievement of The Labour Party in his lifetime.

Guests included TV presenter Dermot O'Leary, Olympic medallists Daniel Wiffen and Hannah Scott, Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee and RuPaul's Drag Race UK star Blu Hydrangea.

Dancers from Portstewart-based Innova Irish dance company performed for guests arriving at Downing Street.

O’Leary, whose parents are from Ireland, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ he had “never felt anything else but Irish”.

"It's a very different upbringing, being brought up as Irish over here, or any second-generation identity,” he added.

Two men and a women chat to each other. One of the men is to the far left. He wears a navy suit, white shirt and green tie. He has grey hair and glasses. The man in the middle wears a black polo shirt, top button undone, with glasses and short brown hair. The women is on the far right, she has long brown hair and wears a green scarf and grey jacket.
Lisa McGee and Daniel Wiffen in conversation with Sir Keir Starmer

The prime minister addressed those attending the event saying that it was a "chance to celebrate the incredible ties that bind us all together".

Referring to the recent inaugural UK-Ireland Summit, the prime minister mentioned the event was "a real opportunity to make good on the reset of relations between the UK and Ireland with a real determination to take them forward with massive ambition".

A man with short brown hair wearing an all black suit with a black polo neck and a little shamrock pin on his lapel walks towards a waiting photographer
TV presenter Dermot O'Leary, whose parents come from Wexford, arrives at the event

The prime minister said he had "personal connections to Northern Ireland".

"I worked over there for five years, working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland on some of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement changes," he told the crowd.

Getty Images A man in a navy suit, white shirt and green tie, talks to a man in a green sparkly dress. The man wears black gloves and sparkly green hat whilst he holds a Guinness. He has long blonde hair and makeup on. Behind them are dozens of people, out of focus in a large cream room. Getty Images
Sir Keir Starmer talking to Blu Hydrangea

"Because I love Northern Ireland so much, soon after my wife Vic and I got married we flew over to Belfast, hired a car and drove around the entire island of Ireland.

"From Belfast, all the way around and then back out of Dublin for about three weeks. But we saw everything, but it was really, really fantastic to see, and a real big part of my life," he added.

He also said he often wears his Donegal top when playing football which he got on his honeymoon but added that the taoiseach had given him an "upgraded" version .

Speaking about the Good Friday Agreement, he quoted Queen Elizabeth II's words about "the ordinary people who yearned for the peace and understanding we now have between our two nations and between the communities".

He said it was "worth remembering those words" and said it had been "an incredible piece of history that we have been living through".