President Higgins begins his visit to Ethiopia

It is important that those countries among the poorest and with the least capacity to deal with the Ebola crisis should be assisted in doing so, President Michael D Higgins has said.

Shortly after his arrival in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, he said, “all of us are concerned in addressing the issue of the latest, greatest dreadful challenge to the continent of Africa”.

He said, “I think it is very important that those countries which are among the poorest on our planet and who have the least capacity be assisted to deal with this issue on the ground.”

Speaking after a visit to the National Museum of Ethiopia, he said, "It is out of Africa that everything came."

He met Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and conveyed to him appreciation for "the generosity of and the human spirit of Ethiopia in keeping its borders open – receiving so many people, caring for them and doing so in a way that is seeing the continent of Africa as something in which all African lives must be respected".

Lesson to world

He continued, “I think it is deeply impressive and at a time when our planet is probably experiencing the largest movement of people, displaced refugees obviously fleeing from different and new forms of threatening fundamentalism. It gives a great lesson to the world.”

Mr Higgins was greeted at Addis Ababa international airport yesterday morning by Mr Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the Irish Ambassador Aidan O’Hara and his wife Isabelle. The President is accompanied on this first visit by an Irish head of State to Ethiopia by his wife Sabina and Minister for Development Seán Sherlock.