The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry, discussed with the Deputy Head of the government of Ireland and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney, the means of boosting the bilateral relations between Egypt and Ireland.
During his visit to Dublin on Sunday, Shoukry and Coveney discussed a number of regional and international issues of a mutual concern, according to a statement from the foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Ahmed Hafez.
Shoukry praised the strength of the Egypt-Ireland ties. “It is with pleasure that I am visiting Dublin today while celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Egyptian Embassy in Ireland, and the marking of 100 years of Egyptian and Irish leaders fighting together to assert their nations’ rights to self-determination,” he said.
The two officials had discussions that covered both the bilateral relations as well as international issues, as they agreed on the need to further strengthen the Egyptian-Irish relations on the political, trade, and economic levels.
“I look forward to upgrading our bilateral trade which has significantly increased in the past four years. We had positive consultations on the establishment of a direct flight between Cairo and Dublin, discussing how the distinguished Egyptian community in Ireland and its Irish counterpart in Egypt can act as a bridge between our nations,” Shoukry added.
Shoukry and Coveney had insightful consultations on the peace process in the Middle East and the ways of working toward a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, as well as the Africa-EU cooperation, following the Egyptian presidency of the African Union (AU) and Egypt’s priorities that seek inter alia, promoting economic and social development in Africa, developing the African industrialisation and agricultural systems in order to achieve food security, and strengthening the cooperation between the AU and international, regional, and the local developmental and peace partners.
They also discussed the first Arab-EU summit which will be hosted in Sharm El-Sheikh on 24-25 February. Ireland is set to take part in the summit.
For his part, the Irish official said that he and Shoukry had productive discussions fostering the bilateral relations between Cairo and Dublin, as well as their joint interests in the EU-Egypt and EU-Arab cooperation, ahead of the first-ever EU-League of Arab States summit.
“Egypt is the largest country in the Arab world and plays a pivotal role in a region where Ireland has a deep interest. I am committed toward broadening and deepening Ireland’s relationship with Egypt, in the interests of the citizens of both countries, and I look forward to Ireland’s further engagement with Egypt across the full spectrum of issues, including trade, regional security and consular affairs,” Coveney said according to a statement from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
