The Government has announced the 2023 St Patrick's Day programme, which will see the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Government ministers visit overseas countries in a bid to promote Ireland abroad.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will visit Washington for the traditional visit to the White House on St Patrick's Day.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin will also travel stateside to visit New York and Boston, while Green Party leader Eamon Ryan will be jetting off to Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.
Mr Ryan's party colleagues, Minister for Culture Catherine Martin and Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman, will be travelling to LA and San Diego, and India and Bangladesh respectively.
Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney will be taking the furthest trip away to a number of cities in Australia, while Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys will be taking a short hop across to London.
Also among the planned visits are Germany for Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe and a trip to Chicago and Toronto for Minister for Finance Michael McGrath.
The international trips form part of the Government's 'Global Ireland' strategy, which seeks to promote Ireland as a location to live, visit, work, invest in, study in and trade with.
In all, 36 representatives of the State will visit 74 cities in 44 countries as part of the programme.
Soc Dems co-leader @CathMurphyTD has told the Dáil that Attorney General St Patrick's trip to Argentina and Chile is a breach with protocol and that they usually go to Washington DC with the Taoiseach. She says the role is an increasingly political one. 1/2
— Sandra Hurley (@sandra_hurley) February 14, 2023
Among the following visits that will take place are:
- Taoiseach Leo Varadkar - Washington in the US
- Tánaiste Micheál Martin - New York, Boston in the US
- Minister Eamon Ryan - Singapore and China - Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai
- Minister Michael McGrath - Chicago, US, and Toronto, Canada
- Minister Paschal Donohoe - Frankfurt, Cologne and Berlin in Germany
- Minister Simon Coveney - Australia: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth
- Minister Norma Foley - Philadelphia in the US
- Minister Catherine Martin - Los Angeles, San Diego in the US
- Minister Darragh O'Brien - Atlanta and Savannah in the US
- Minister Heather Humphreys - London and England
- Minister Charlie McConalogue - New Zealand: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch
- Minister Roderic O'Gorman - India: Delhi, Mumbai, and Dhaka in Bangladesh
- Minister Stephen Donnelly - Canada
- Minister Simon Harris - San Francisco in the US and Vancouver in Canada
