I look forward to welcoming His Excellency Mr Michael D Higgins, President of Ireland, to Australia from the 15th to the 17th of October.
Australia strongly values its close relationship with Ireland. Australia and Ireland recently celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations.
Our two countries share deep historical and people-to-people links and the Irish have contributed immeasurably to modern day Australia. Today nearly 2.4 million Australians claim Irish ancestry.
The President’s visit is an opportunity to highlight the close ties between our nations, and I look forward to discussing ways to expand our bilateral engagement with President Higgins.
President Higgins is the first Irish President to visit Australia as a Guest of Government since Her Excellency Mary McAleese in 1998.
His visit follows Foreign Minister Bishop’s successful visit to Ireland in February and the visit by the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), last month.
The President and Mrs Higgins will travel to Canberra, Sydney and Hobart during their visit.