英国和爱尔兰在本年度经历了由世界金融危机导致的严重经济衰退；但由于两国政府采取了一系列应对措施，且世界经济有明显回暖迹象，因此两国经济有望在2009年下半年有所好转；经济衰退使两国执政党或执政联盟在国内面临一系列棘手的政治与社会问题；两国政府注意力均集中于国内事务，在对外关系方面无特别突出的表现。
Both the UK and Ireland underwent a severe economic recession caused by the global financial crisis. Fortunately，due to a wide range of positive measures domestically and the tendency of economic rebound internationally，the two countries are likely to see economic upturn in late 2009. Accordingly，a series of political and social turmoil took place in the two countries. In this context，both governments concentrated their attention chiefly on domestic affairs instead of foreign relations.
