[caption id="attachment_71739" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Taoiseach Enda Kenny."]
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has underlined Ireland's newly strengthened relationship with Britain describing the country as "our closest friend on the world stage."
The statements were made this week at a meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Dublin, and are the latest gesture of friendship following Queen Elizabeth's ground-breaking state visit to the Republic last year.
The summit at Leinster House featured representatives from all elected assemblies and parliaments across the Ireland and the UK, and saw Mr. Kenny describe the visit, in which the queen paid tribute to those who died in the Easter Rising, as "an emotional time for everyone involved."
Kenny also praised the Good Friday Agreement as helping to rebuild relationships that had been shattered as a result of the Troubles in the North.
"The ground-breaking visit of Queen Elizabeth last year marked a turning point in relations between our two countries," Kenny said.
"The totality of this British-Irish relationship has become deeper since then. Britain is our most important economic partner, our nearest neighbor, and our closest friend on the world stage."
The assembly was originally established back in 1990 at the height of the Troubles, and it also discussed the forthcoming closure of RTE's London office.
The summit heard fears that the closure - part of an overall cost-cutting exercise by the Irish state broadcaster, could have "long-term consequences" for the Irish community living in Britain.
