Enda Kenny welcomed the forthcoming visit of the Queen to the Republic of Ireland Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has promised a “brand new relationship” with the UK ahead of Downing Street meeting with David Cameron.
He said he would not “waste time” and would work with his UK counterpart to sort out Ireland’s economic problems.
Mr Kenny, who has been in power for five weeks, added it would “be nice” to get a lower rate of interest on the UK’s £3.25bn loan to his country.
And he said most Irish people were looking forward to the Queen’s visit.
She will be the first reigning British monarch to go to Ireland since George V in 1911, when her four-day state visit starts on 17 May.
Mr Kenny said this would “symbolise an end to division” and be the “start of a brand new relationship between our two countries”.
Mr Kenny’s centre-right Fine Gael party came first in February’s general election, three months after the previous government accepted an 85bn euro (£75bn) bail-out from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
It later formed a coalition with the second-placed Labour Party in an effort to deal with the country’s crippling economic crisis.
The UK has also loaned Ireland £3.25bn, with Chancellor George Osborne saying that helping a “friend in need” was in both countries’ interests.
Mr Kenny told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Obviously we are very grateful to our colleagues here in Britain for the bilateral loan that they have made available.”
The Taoiseach is pushing for the 5.8% rate currently being charged by the IMF and EU to be cut.
Asked whether a reduction on the British loan was also being sought, he replied: “That would be nice.”
However, questioned over whether the government could default on its commitments, he said: “We want to make it clear that Ireland wants to pay its way and that Ireland is central to the progress of the European Union.”
Mr Kenny added that he intended to use his UK visit to show that “Ireland is open for business”.
He said: “We are not here to waste time. We are here to explain the British prime minister and our colleagues here in Britain that we want the links that have been developed here for a long time to be strengthened.”
The Queen’s visit will include a ceremony in Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance and a visit to the Taoiseach at Government Buildings.
Amid reports that protests could mar events, Mr Kenny: “We welcome the British Queen and the vast majority of people feel like that.”
Mr Kenny and Mr Cameron will also discuss the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr in Northern Ireland, who was killed by a booby trap car bomb attack outside his home in Omagh, County Tyrone, two weeks ago.
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