Irish premier Micheal Martin said Thursday that Boris Johnson’s resignation as Conservative leader, paving the way for a new UK prime minister, was “an opportunity” to reset fraught relations. Martin added ties between Dublin and London had been “strained and challenged in recent times”, not least because of clashes over special post-Brexit trade arrangements in British-run Northern Ireland. Johnson quit as Tory leader following a series of scandals and an exodus of cabinet ministers and will be replaced once his party’s MPs, and then eventually its members, elect a successor. “We have now an opportunity to return to the true spirit of partnership and mutual respect that is needed to underpin the gains of the Good Friday Agreement,” Martin said in a statement. The 1998 peace accords ended decades of bloodshed over British rule in Northern Ireland but has been increasingly strained by Brexit. “Our joint responsibilities concerning stewardship of the Good Friday Agreement, as well as nurturing broader bilateral relations between us, require us to work together in a spirit of respect, trust and partnership,” Martin added.