James Cox
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will visit Washington on St Patrick's Day as Ministerial St Patrick Day visits return on a full schedule for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic started.
Only a small number took place in 2020, while no visits took place last year because of the pandemic. The Government is planning 33 high level visits next month.
The Taoiseach will travel to Washington and London, while Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will head to South America.
Mr Varadkar will visit Columbia and Chile. Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan will be in New York.
Mr Martin is expected to meet with US president Joe Biden at the White House, and with Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill.
He will visit London the weekend before St Patrick's Day. Ministers will also visit other parts of the United States.
Along with Mr Ryan's visit to New York, 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 visit Boston, while Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman will travel to Philadelphia and New York.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee will visit Savannah, Georgia, and 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 is also set to travel to Washington.
Minister for Arts Catherine Martin will travel to Argentina, while Minister of State Colm Brophy will visit Mexico.
In Europe, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is set to travel to London and the Netherlands.
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.
There will also be a number of other Ministerial visits.
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.
