On her official visit to Australia, the President, Mrs McAleese, spoke yesterday of her hopes for increased trade and tourism between it and Ireland, despite "nervousness about war".
Mrs McAleese said that of the 7.5 million visitors to Ireland last year, 150,000 of them were from Australia.
The value of exports from Ireland to Australia in the 11 months to last November was €618 million, she said.
The President said that existing business relationships between Ireland and Australia can be strengthened and new ones built.
While business between the two countries has been growing there is scope for us to do more, she added.
Speaking at a business breakfast gathering, Mrs McAleese said it made "good sense" for Australia to do business with Ireland and Irish companies.
While Irish companies are keen to increase sales to Australia ". . . there is clearly scope for Irish and Australian companies to join forces in opening up new market opportunities for both in the Asia Pacific region, which accounts for 60 per cent of Australia's foreign trade".
Yesterday afternoon, Mrs McAleese spoke at Sydney's Great Famine Memorial at Hyde Park Barracks.
She said that for her the most evocative element of the memorial was the glass panel which lists the names of some of the thousands of orphaned Irish girls who arrived in Sydney.
"Who can imagine what they thought or felt? Did they ever imagine that we would never forget?"
Last night, President McAleese met 500 members of Sydney's Irish community at a reception hosted by Ireland's consul-general in the city, Ms Anne Webster.
Today the President will attend a reception at Sydney's Opera House.
