A Celtic Ceili Dance - Icholasen-Ireland Summit

[The United Kingdom]

Dublin, Ireland

The new Taioseach, Patrick Donoghue, had barely gotten his furniture into Steward's Lodge when he received the phone call from the Korojanu of Ichilausen...the Prime Minister of the important island nation to the south of Ireland. Previously, Ireland and Icholasen had fought over Ulster but that was over one hundred and fifty years prior to this moment. While some of the playful commentary about Icholasen referred to them as the Instigators, nothing serious had come from that in the years of growth that followed.

Eilidh Whiteford had suggested a summit with her northern neighbour to work on some key centrist issues, blah blah blah.

'Being a centrist just means you don't have courage of conviction to do what's right,' thought the Taoiseach.

He was a staunch progressive and it was surprising that the Labour Party was able to form a coalition of any sort to govern once the Liberals withdrew support from Fine Gael. The Liberals had managed to swing some of the more liberal Fine Gael deputies as well to their party. As a result, the new governing and more natural coalition between Labour and Liberal had begun. It was an alliance of convenience but an alliance nonetheless with two leaders in Donoghue and Martin who could be viewed as progressive on social issues, while Labour took bolder economic stances than their junior partners.

For the first time in fifteen years, the United Provinces would have a left leaning government and it was not via election but parliamentary politics. He knew he lacked a mandate to govern but he could focus on an election later. First was to solidify some wins with Korojanu Whiteford. The famous Korojanu. She had brought Icholasen front and centre to the European agenda in a way no leader had before. She truly displayed qualities of leadership that made her formidable. The Taoiseach admired that about Whiteford, that was certain.

"Taoiseach, the Nicolezians have said their plane is approaching Dublin now. They'll be at Steward's Lodge in about an hour," said a female aide.

"Thank you; then you have time to tell me what the hell is even in this place. I have no clue," the Taioseach said with a smirk. As he was being led around one of the small state rooms, his mind wandered again.

"Siobhan," asked the Taoiseach.

"Yes, sir?" the aide answered back.

"Could you make sure there's no dairy. I remembered the Nicolezians and milk...it's a touchy history on that one. Should the Korojanu ask for creamer for her tea or coffee, then we can ask for it to be brought in," the Taoiseach requested.

"Yes, Taoiseach," the aide said. The Taoiseach opened his briefing folder again from the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Icholasen]

Whiteford’s plane touched town in Dublin. She really didn’t know what to expect from the summit, other than her pushing some centrist/cooperative/internationalist ideas. She was excited to meet the Taoiseach and discuss what they had in common. There had to be … something, right ? She had some experience with the left while serving as a Liberal Democratic Socialist Dominion Assembly Member, but ever since then she avoided them like the plague as much as she could. As a DAM, she had to work in coalition with the Socialists who she did not particularly get along with, she found them too... radical. This was when she was further left, but now, Whiteford has made her beige journey to the true centre. Whiteford left the plane and was driven across Dublin in a black car to the summit’s location. She made herself comfortable and asked for black tea no milk 2 sugars.

[The United Kingdom]

The Taoiseach looked at the Korojaunu with anticipation as she arrived at Steward's Lodge.

"Welcome, Korojaunu," Taoiseach Donoghue said to Korojaunu Whiteford. "It is a pleasure to have you in Ireland. We apologise that more of our government ministers couldn't be present. They are getting acquainted with their department heads right now in government. Could we offer you some tea?"

The Taoiseach watched as an aide took Ms. Whiteford's tea order.

"Now, I know you were probably expecting a Fine Gael Taoiseach, and quite frankly I'm not surprised if that was the case. But, the Liberals managed to defect and get ten former Fine Gael TDs to come along with them. Perhaps it's a move towards the radical centre, but they decided to end fifteen years of Fine Gael and try on Labour as a coalition partner. We should be able to ride out the rest of the Dail with them," the Taoiseach explained. "I am pleased we could keep your visit. It will be nice to remind the people of Ireland that Icholasen isn't just the country that turned communist or the country that fought with us over Ulster."

The Taoiseach paused for a moment as he poured himself a coffee. He decided it would be better to have it black. The bitterness would keep him grounded.

"Well, I do know what we could get started on is some trade agreement details. Our position is very clear that we want to promote trade with Icholasen and the biggest thing we'd like to see is barrier free movement of goods and capital, with the movement of people being allowed to accompany goods and capital to their destination. Would that please the Korojaunu?"

[Icholasen]

"I would very much like to see freedom of movement across the Irish Sea." Korojaunu Whiteford said. "I think that this is a perfect agreement. We can make the nations of the north open to each other, our agreement with Gallorum means that all three European nations in the north are now open to each other. Is there anything we need to clarify in regards to that? How exactly do you envisage it working, should there be checks and requirements to qualify?"

[The United Kingdom]

The Taoiseach paused to think.

“I’d like to see self-checks at the point of origin, particularly when it comes to goods beyond the purview of the Ichilausen-Ireland-Gallorum trade zone. For goods within the three nations, harmonisation of standards could eliminate the need for checks between nations.”

[Icholasen]

"That will work well." The Korojaunu said. "We can move towards an elimination of checks over a period of time. What other issues would you like to discuss, Mr. Donaghue?"

[The United Kingdom]

"We'd like to expand and cooperate on provisions in the Irish Sea and international waters between Ichilausen and Ireland for rescuing ships under distress. We'd also like to see joint security efforts in those waters, as the north of the Royal Dominions and south of the United Provinces are a lucrative shipping lane for crude oil, fishing and other industries," the Taoiseach mentioned. "It would be a great safety victory for both of our nations. We'd also like to see visa-free travel for holiday makers up to thirty days in Ireland, reciprocated of course. For stays beyond thirty days, we would like to maintain visas."