UK prime minister Keir Starmer declared 10 Downing Street the “best place in London to grab a pint of Guinness” on Wednesday evening, as he hosted the first ever St Patrick’s reception held at the most famous address in British politics.
More than 100 guests from Britain’s Irish community, drawn from the worlds of politics, sport, business, entertainment and community groups, were invited to the event beyond the famous black door of Number 10. They included well-known figures from the Republic and the North.
The prime minister, who said he “fell in love” with Ireland on his three-week honeymoon around the island, lauded the Belfast Agreement that achieved peace in the North as the Labour Party’s “greatest achievement in my lifetime”. He also said the UK and the Republic are “entering a new and very positive chapter of our history,” as he promised further co-operation on trade and energy.
But first, both sides resolved to party.
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As the guests filtered through the tight security on to Downing Street, the strains of traditional Irish music carried across the evening air as a troupe from the Innova Irish Dance Company performed on the cobbled street outside the door to Number 10. Starmer said he had been in a meeting earlier at Downing Street when he could hear them rehearsing.
The eclectic guest list included Northern Ireland drag queen Blu Hydrangea, real name Joshua Cargill, as well as British broadcaster Dermot O’Leary and Irish Olympic swimming champion Daniel Wiffen. From the world of politics and diplomacy, it included the State’s ambassador in London, Martin Fraser, British government cabinet members Pat McFadden and Hilary Benn, and Labour MPs Liam Conlon, Deirdre Costigan and Adam Jogee.
Business figures present included the Irish-born former head of the Confederation of British Industry, Paul Drechsler, and also Dubliner Rory Godson, who in 2023 sold his London-headquartered communications agency Powerscourt to global group Sodali for an estimated £50 million.
The drinks on Wednesday, however, were on Starmer. Number 10 staff had set up a Guinness bar down the back of the function room upstairs, serving surprisingly good pints of the black stuff, including the non-alcoholic variety. Starmer suggested he might be tempted to leave the bar intact afterwards, and joked it was “winking” at him.
Perhaps the prime minister’s only diplomatic misstep was when he encouraged guests to “split the G”. The viral drinking game challenges Guinness drinkers to try to get the foam to perfectly dissect the first letter of the stout’s name in the first few gulps. Guinness fans in London are obsessed with the game, which usually elicits groans of exasperation and rolled eyes from Irish drinkers of the black stuff.
But, given the positive spirit of the evening, they let him away with it. After a short, friendly speech, the prime minister stepped away from the podium to work the room on a route that, rather conveniently, took him right by Number 10’s new Guinness bar.
Speaking afterwards to RTÉ, the prime minister said the warming relationship between the UK and the Republic had become even more important “at a time of greater volatility around the world”.
“There will be a level of reassurance that this relationship is increasingly close in the long term,” he said.
The Guinness bar eventually shut and staff were soon shooing the guests down the stairs. Downing Street’s longest resident, Larry the Cat, who had decamped earlier to escape the noise, was spotted stretched out and snoozing on one of Number 10’s inside windowsills.
Outside, a large queue of Irish guests had formed, all trying to get pictures outside the famous black door of Number 10. The security staff weren’t quite at the stage of asking them if they had no homes to go, but didn’t seem too far away from it.
After the summit between the two governments earlier this month near Liverpool, and now a thoroughly enthusiastic booze-up in Number 10, the much-vaunted “reset of relations” continues apace.
