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Tánaiste meets with President Hollande and Prime Minister Ayrault in Paris
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore with Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Paris today
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore with President Francois Hollande in Paris todayTánaiste & Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore today met with the French President, Francois Hollande, in Paris for discussions on the economy and Europe-wide elections to the European Parliament in May.
Earlier, the Tánaiste met with French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to discuss the economic situation in Europe, and other EU-related issues including the completion of Banking Union.
The Tánaiste is visiting France for a three-day programme of trade and investment-focused events aimed at boosting economic and political ties between the two countries.
The Tánaiste and President Hollande discussed leadership changes in the EU institutions which will see Martin Schulz and José Manuel Barroso replaced as presidents of the European Parliament and European Commission, respectively, in mid-2014.
The Tánaiste said:
I had a very good meeting with President Hollande and Prime Minister Ayrault. We discussed the very strong relationship between Ireland and France. France is our fourth largest trading partner and second largest market for food and drink. We also discussed economic progress in Ireland, particularly the growth in employment numbers.
This afternoon, the Tánaiste led 12 Enterprise Ireland client companies on a site visit to multinational agricultural machinery group, AGCO, near Beauvais.