French president Emmanuel Macron to make first official visit to Dublin

almost 4 years in The Irish Times

French president Emmanuel Macron is making his first official visit to Ireland on Thursday.
He is to undertake a one-day tour of Dublin which will see him meet President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin, as well as visiting Trinity College and the Guinness Enterprise Centre.
Mr Macron will be accompanied by his ministers of foreign affairs, European affairs and finance.
The trip fulfils part of an election pledge by Mr Macron to visit all 27 EU member states, with Ireland one of only four countries yet to be crossed off his list.
A trip to the Phoenix Park is first up on his itinerary, with Mr Macron set to join Mr Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin in the morning for what is being billed as an academic discussion.
He will then move on to Government Buildings to meet Mr Martin for a lunch at which Brexit, the future of the EU, corporate tax, Covid-19 and the ongoing situation in Afghanistan are expected to be on the agenda. The two leaders will host a joint press conference following the lunch.
Following this, Mr Macron will visit Trinity College, taking in the Long Room Library, before engaging students in conversation on a series of topics.
Entrepreneurs
He will then head to the Guinness Enterprise Centre where he will meet with Irish and French entrepreneurs based in the facility and discuss the impact the centre has had on the development of the local area.
Finally, Mr Macron is set to return to Áras an Uachtaráin, where Mr Higgins will host a reception in his honour.
The French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney are to sign a “joint action plan” for greater cultural, economic and political co-operation between the countries during the visit.
Included in the plan are the Celtic Interconnector which will link Ireland to the continental electrical grid, and exchanges of university professors similar to the Erasmus programme for students.

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