merrion street

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will today travel to Rome for a meeting with Prime Minister Letta.

This will be the first formal bi-lateral meeting between the two leaders, who have met previously at the European Council.

Discussions are likely to focus on the Irish Presidency; the Multiannual Financial Framework; preparations for the June European Council; EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and the economic situation in both countries.

While in Italy, the Taoiseach will also visit Bobbio Basilica where the remains of its founder St. Columbanus lay. The Irish missionary founded the Abbey there in 614 and in 2015 the Order will be celebrating the 1400 hundredth anniversary of death of St Columbanus.