All 15 Cabinet members and 23 junior ministers will take part in overseas St Patrick’s Day visits this year on behalf of the Government, reports RTE.
Altogether, Government figures and other State representatives are set to travel to 50 countries. reports RTE.
Eight ministers are heading to the United States at a time when EU-US relations remain strained.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will visit Washington and is expected to meet President Donald Trump at the White House. reports RTE.
The Taoiseach is also scheduled to travel to Philadelphia.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee will visit Boston, while Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke is travelling to New York. reports RTE.
Minister for Arts Patrick O’Donovan will go to Atlanta and Savannah, Minister for Housing James Browne will visit Chicago, and Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon is due to travel to San Francisco.
Further US visits include Minister of State Robert Troy travelling to Austin, while Niamh Smyth will head to Miami. reports RTE.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan is travelling to Greece and Cyprus, while Minister for Children Norma Foley will visit the Holy See.
Tánaiste Simon Harris is going to Paris and London, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien will travel to Brazil, and Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton will visit Chile and Argentina. reports RTE.
Additional trips include Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers visiting Senegal and Nigeria, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary travelling to Canada, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill going to Germany, and Minister for Higher Education James Lawless visiting Australia.
Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy is travelling to Los Angeles, while Attorney General Rossa Fanning will visit India. reports RTE.
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said the party will decide whether to travel to Washington DC for St Patrick’s week at its next Ard Chomhairle meeting. reports RTE.
Last year, the party did not attend St Patrick’s Day events at the White House in protest at President Donald Trump’s stance on Gaza.
Mr Ó Broin said the Sinn Féin leadership has yet to decide if it will again boycott the trip. reports RTE.
“This is an issue the party’s Ard Chomhairle will be addressing at our next meeting and we’ll make our views known on that matter after we’ve made a decision in respect to both our own participation and Government’s,” he said, reports RTE.
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