Liz Truss named British Prime Minister, what does it mean for Ireland?

Liz Truss has been named as Britain's new Prime Minister after defeating Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership contest.

Liz Truss's tenure as Prime Minister is likely to have a huge impact on Ireland, with senior figures in the Irish Government reportedly braced for a further deterioration in the relationships between Ireland and Britain. 

Government officials were hoping for "anyone but Liz Truss" to win the Conservative leadership race, according to one source. Truss is backed by the extreme Europhobic wing of the Conservative Party, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Lord David Frost, and Suella Braverman. 

Truss, who served as Foreign Secretary before succeeding Boris Johnson as Prime Minister on Monday, has a frosty relationship with her former Irish counterpart Simon Coveney, according to widespread reports. 

The pair had a fractious meeting in Turin last May, with Truss reportedly berating Coveney for being unsupportive of the UK's demands regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol. 

Coveney stood his ground and was reportedly exasperated that the British Government was keen to rewrite an agreement it had signed and passed through parliament two years previously. 

Irish Times Political Editor Pat Leahy reports that the Irish Government has also interpreted some of Truss's comments as to the Common Travel Area that has existed between Ireland and the United Kingdom since 1923. 

Truss has also referred to Northern Ireland as "part of my country" in the past. The comment is not untrue, but it has been seen as an oversimplification of the complex political situation in the six counties. 

In 2019, Truss reportedly told right-wing American think tank the Heritage Foundation that the only people who had anything to fear over Brexit were a few Irish "farmers with turnips in the back of their trucks". Sources close to Truss dismissed the claims. 

However, Leahy notes that Truss faces a daunting in-tray in her first months as Prime Minister, adding that she may conclude that stoking up further conflict with the EU over the Protocol is simply not worth it.