First full programme of St Patrick’s Day ministerial visits since before pandemic

Ministers will travel all over the world again for St Patrick’s Day in the first full programme of ministerial visits since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

They will visit 33 different places across the world including venues in the US, EU, UK, Far East and Latin America, while in countries where in-person visit are not possible, local embassies will organise St Patrick’s Day events.

There are no visits scheduled to Russia or China, which a senior source said was due to “Covid reasons primarily”.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin will visit Washington DC for an expected meeting with US president Joe Biden at the White House, and with Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill. He will also visit London the weekend before St Patrick’s Day, though no details of that programme have been released yet. However, he is expected to attend the Ireland-England rugby match at Twickenham.

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Several ministers will also visit destinations elsewhere in the US. Green leader and Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan will visit New York, while Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath will go to San Francisco, as well as Vancouver on the west coast of Canada.

Minister for Education Norma Foley will travel to Boston, while Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman will also visit New York, and Philadelphia. Helen McEntee, Minister for Justice, will visit Savannah, Georgia in the southern US, while the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will travel to Austin, Texas. Chief whip Jack Chambers will go to Los Angeles, while Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan will go to Chicago. Attorney General Paul Gallagher will also travel to Washington.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will visit Colombia and Chile. Other ministers visiting Latin America include Minister for Arts Catherine Martin (Argentina) and Minister of State Colm Brophy (Mexico).

In the EU, Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Finance, will go to the Netherlands (he will also go to London). Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris will go to France; Minister of State Pippa Hackett will visit Greece; Minister of State Thomas Byrne will go to Italy.

Minister of State Ossian Smyth will go to Spain and Portugal, Minister of State Josepha Madigan will go to Slovenia; Minister of State Anne Rabbitte will travel to Romania.

Minister of State Joe O’Brien will go to Finland; Damian English will visit Sweden; Mary Butler will go to Belgium; Frank Feighan will go to Poland; Niall Collins to Croatia and James Browne to the Czech Republic.

Elsewhere, Sean Fleming will go to Scotland and the North of England; Robert Troy will go to India; Peter Burke will travel to Japan and South Korea; Martin Heydon will visit Lebanon; Hildegarde Naughton will go to Australia and New Zealand.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien will visit the Expo in the United Arab Emirates and Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue will travel to Canada.

The “minister on call” at home will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, though he will also attend events “on the island of Ireland”, while Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan are both listed as “no travel”.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the “central message of this year’s St Patrick’s Day is that Ireland is reopening, and the international programme will focus on the theme of Rebuilding Connections & Supporting Communities across the globe.

“St Patrick’s Day is the primary flagship for realising the ambition of the Government’s ‘Global Ireland’ programme to promote Ireland as a great place to live, visit, work, study, and invest, with an integrated, all of Government, Team Ireland approach,” the department said in a statement.