Ministers in US, China, India and Brazil as part of largest St Patrick’s Day programme yet

With 38 ministers and other political figures dispatched to 47 countries, this year’s St Patrick’s Day programme is the largest yet. More than 1,000 official events are planned with many promoting Irish business and tourism and there will be much engagement with the diaspora.

With the focus said to be on “the future of our country in the world”, here’s a selection of what our politicians are getting up to abroad this week.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

In the coming days Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is set to visit the Oval Office for a meeting with US president Joe Biden and there are the usual plans for the traditional bowl of Shamrock to be handed over. The Fine Gael leader has said he will push the case for a ceasefire in Gaza when he meets Mr Biden. He has already been in Boston where he criticised Israel’s continued onslaught on Gaza during a speech at an event at the John F Kennedy Library.

On Tuesday, Mr Varadkar visited Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, where he met representatives of Irish sports performance and technology company, Output Sports.

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[ Full list of destinations for Ministers’ St Patrick’s Day trips published ]

Tánaiste Micheál Martin

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is on a week-long trip to Canada. His itinerary includes political meetings with the diaspora (4.4 million Canadians claim direct Irish ancestry) and trade promotion. The trip takes in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Mr Martin is to address an Ireland-Quebec business leader’s event on Thursday and he is expected to meet Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. He will participate in the Toronto St Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday.

Minister for Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport Eamon Ryan

Climate action is on the agenda for Green Party leader Eamon Ryan’s trip to Brazil. He will visit the city of Belém, considered to be the gateway to the Amazon rainforest, where the Cop30 climate summit will take place in 2025. Ireland has provided over €1.5 million to organisations working on the preservation and sustainable use of the Amazon rainforest. Mr Ryan is also going to Brasília where, among others, he is meeting minister for the environment and climate change Marina Silva and the minister for foreign affairs Maurio Vieira. Trade relations will be on the agenda when he visits São Paulo.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee

Helen McEntee is in New York where she led Ireland’s delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and on Tuesday delivered the national statement on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in efforts to address poverty. The Minister for Justice said afterwards: “I outlined my ongoing work to address domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in Ireland through the zero tolerance strategy.”

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin

Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin is in the United States where she is visiting Nashville and Austin. It was confirmed earlier this week that she would attend events that form part of the SXSW festival in Austin, despite opposition politicians calling on her to boycott the event. That came after 12 Irish artists who had received funding to perform pulled out of the festival in solidarity with the people of Gaza, citing the US army’s sponsorship of the event.

Ms Martin’s Department said she is representing Ireland at a number of events in Austin, some of which form part of the festival, and these are “aimed at promoting Ireland’s creative industries”. A statement said she had spoken to many of the musicians who withdrew from the festival. “She outlined that she has the utmost respect for their freedom of expression as artists and reassured them that she will use every opportunity available to her to make clear her revulsion at the devastation that has been unleashed on Gaza”.

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath is in China where he will travel to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. He is to meet his Chinese counterpart and “a wide range of business figures” involved in Ireland-China trade, as well as members of the Irish community. Speaking before the trip, Mr McGarth said: “China is the world’s second largest economy and has grown to become Ireland’s fifth largest export partner for goods and seventh for services ... I look forward to assisting Irish businesses to further develop the massive trade opportunities that exist with China.”

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe

Paschal Donohoe, the Minister for Public Expenditure, will visit France and Bulgaria during his St Patrick’s Day mission. While in Paris he is meeting French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, Bruno Le Maire. On Tuesday he delivered an address at Sciences Po University on the theme: Unlocking the potential of the euro area’s economic landscape. He is also visiting the Centre Culturel Irlandais to launch an exhibition commemorating 100 years of Ireland’s participation in the Olympics – with the games taking place in Paris this year. He will travel to Bulgaria on Thursday where engagements include a meeting with President Rumen Radev as well as Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney

Simon Coveney is on a weeklong visit to India and Bangladesh. He arrived in Bengaluru on Monday and said: “India is booming and I’m here to make sure that boardroom decisions from New Delhi to Dublin come out in favour of Irish jobs and Irish companies.” A visit to Mumbai on Wednesday included the announcement of the opening by Kerry India of their third customer co-creation centre. In New Delhi on Thursday Mr Coveney will deliver a keynote address at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where he will reflect on Ireland-India relations and current geopolitical challenges.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue is visiting Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan as part of a visit that his Department says will “will underpin Ireland’s critical role as a leading donor to World Food Programme and continued engagement with the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)”. The Donegal TD will visit various programmes which support humanitarian development with a focus on agriculture knowledge transfer and food system transformation. The trip started with a visit to the Kakuma Refugee Camp, in Turkana, Kenya to see the humanitarian work of the World Food Programme.

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