TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY has said that he has spoken to the British Prime Minister about the possibility of Britain and Ireland embarking on a joint trade mission abroad.
Kenny was speaking at a business breakfast at the Mansion House in Central London this morning when he said that he had spoken to David Cameron about the possibility at last night’s State banquet in Windsor.
Kenny is in the British capital as part of the historic State visit by President Michael D Higgins.
Reflecting on last night’s dinner, he said it was a “momentous occasion”. He said that 2011′s visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth made an enormous impact on “closing the circle of history”.
In a wide-ranging speech, Kenny said that the government had hit all its deficit reduction targets but admitted “we’ve come through a very hard time”.
With €1 billion-a-week in trade between Britain and Ireland, Kenny said that he spoke to Cameron last night about the possibility of the pair making a joint trade mission to a destination still to be determined.
Kenny also touched on the North saying that politicians there had a shared responsibility to “finish the job” and not have politics “anchored in the past”.
He said that Ireland’s message was clear with regards to Britain’s membership of the EU ahead of a possible referendum in 2017, saying Ireland needs and wants Britain in the Union.
On Scotland’s independence referendum later this year, Kenny said that it is a “pretty serious question” facing the Scottish people and that “clearly there are consequences” but he emphasised it was a matter for the Scottish.
He also said that the government would use every opportunity in the Budget this Octoer to use the tax system for job creation.
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