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Taoiseach to travel to London before St Patrick's Day in Washington, with 32 trips planned for ministers

The Taoiseach is to travel to London before he jets off to Washington DC for the annual traditional meeting with the President of the United States on St Patrick's Day.

While in London, Martin is set to partake in a busy schedule of meetings with the Irish community and British leaders.

Last year saw a virtual meeting of Micheál Martin and Joe Biden as a result of the pandemic, meaning St Patrick's Day will be the first in-person meeting between the pair.

He will attend the Irish Funds dinner in Washington DC on 16 March, with the shamrock ceremony likely to take place on St Patrick's Day in the White House, before returning home for a pandemic commemoration event which will take place in Ireland on Sunday 20 March.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who was the last Taoiseach to meet the US President on St Patrick's Day in 2020, will this year go to Colombia and Chile.

Varadkar will again return to Washington next year for a meeting with Biden once he rotates into the office of the Taoiseach.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will also travel to London, as well as the Netherlands.

Three ministers will remain in Ireland instead of the usual one. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney will be the minister on call and attend engagements on the island of Ireland, while both Minister Heather Humphreys and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan will also not travel abroad.

Other ministers will visit San Francisco, Boston, Australia, Los Angeles, and India.

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, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

The aim of the programme is promote Ireland as a place to live, visit, work, study, and invest, with an integrated, all of Government, Team Ireland approach.

The programme will also highlight key national initiatives including EU50, Ireland’s Council of Europe Presidency, Centenary 1922, and Ulysses 100.

Where in-person events are not possible due to the pandemic, Ireland’s network of Diplomatic missions will host a series of online community, business and cultural events. This will include country-specific ‘virtual receptions’ that will be broadcast on St Patrick’s Day.

A full list of visits taking place as part of the programme can be found below:

Taoiseach London, UK; Washington D.C, USA

Tánaiste Colombia; Chile

Minister Ryan New York, USA

Minister Donohoe The Netherlands; London, UK

Minister McGrath San Francisco, USA; Vancouver, Canada

Minister Martin Argentina

Minister O’Brien UAE (Expo)

Minister Coveney Minister on call/Engagements on island of Ireland

Minister Foley Boston, USA

Minister Humphreys No travel

Minister O’Gorman New York, USA; Philadelphia, USA