Ministers are to travel to 74 cities in 44 countries as part of an extensive programme to mark St Patrick’s Day.
The Government said next month’s travel programme would be the largest-ever, with 36 Ministers and Ministers of State heading abroad.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is due in Washington DC for the traditional visit to the White House and shamrock ceremony with US president Joe Biden. Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin is travelling to New York and Boston.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is travelling to Singapore, Hong Kong and China, where he is visiting Beijing and Shanghai.
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Minister for Finance Michael McGrath is to visit Chicago and Toronto. Minister for Education Norma Foley is off to Philadelphia, while Minister for Justice Simon Harris will travel to San Francisco and Vancouver.
Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney is heading to Australia, where he will visit Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth.
The Government said “this year’s programme will see the widest yet engagement by Ireland with Ministers reaching out to partner governments and Irish communities on every continent”.
“St Patrick’s Day offers an unmatched opportunity to promote Ireland abroad. It is an important part of the Government’s ‘Global Ireland’ strategy which seeks to promote Ireland as an outstanding location to live, visit, work, invest in, trade with, and study,” it said in a statement.
The Coalition plans to market the State this St Patrick’s Day by highlighting how this year marks 100 years of “Ireland in the World”. It said Ministers “will acknowledge a number of important milestones which occur this year” including the centenary of Ireland joining the League of Nations, the 50th anniversary of Ireland’s accession to the then European Economic Community (now the European Union), and the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.
A number of objectives were listed in relation to the programme of travel. Ministers will “reiterate our support for consolidating the achievements” of the Belfast Agreement and emphasise “the importance and value of our membership of the European Union”.
The Government said the aim of the trips is to “connect with Irish communities overseas and emphasise the importance of our Diaspora”. Ministers will also seek to build further on relationships with political and business leaders, decision-makers and stakeholders across the world, and celebrate Ireland’s contemporary and traditional arts, culture and heritage.
Minister for Arts and Culture Catherine Martin will travel to Los Angeles and San Diego, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien will head for Atlanta and Savannah, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys will visit London, while Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue will go to New Zealand, visiting Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
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Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman will travel to India, visiting Delhi and Mumbai before moving on to Bangladesh. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will visit Canada, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl is to visit Lebanon and Attorney General (AG) Rossa Fanning SC is travelling to Argentina and Chile.
Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said in the Dáil that the Attorney General was normally part of the visit to Washington DC with the Taoiseach, and in breach with normal protocol would now be a solo dignitary to Argentina and Chile this year.
“There seems to be a deviation now with the Attorney General in terms of being the legal advisor to Government to taking a more political role,” she said. In response, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Tánaiste had drawn up the schedule but added he did not believe it was correct to say the AG always travels to Washington DC with Taoiseach.
Asked for precedent on the AG travelling to non-Washington destinations on St Patrick’s Day, a government spokesman confirmed this hadn’t happened in a decade, when the previous AG travelled to France. In 2010 the AG travelled to the UAE, to Seattle in 2009, to Argentina in 2007 and to Russia in 2006.
