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Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Andrew Doyle T.D., today begins his St Patrick's Day visit to Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina as part of the Government’s Promote Ireland Programme 

Speaking today Minister Doyle said 

"The visit will play an important role in strengthening strong bilateral relations with these three countries, promote Ireland and give me an opportunity to provide an update on Brexit. In the context of the UK possibly leaving the EU on the 29 March, the Irish Government remain firmly of the view that thebest way to ensure an orderly withdrawal and protect the Good Friday Agreement and the integrity of the Single Market is to ratify the Withdrawal Agreement.” 

During the visit Minister Doyle will have a number of bilaterals with: 

-          Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Aleksandra Pivec 

-          the Croatian State Secretary of Agriculture Marija Vučković 

-          the Bosnian Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirko Šarović, Minister of Agriculture, Water-Management and Forestry of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šemsudin Dedić and  Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Stevo Mirjanić 

The Minister added "The retention of an adequate budget for the CAP post 2020 is a key priority for Ireland.  This is further emphasised by Brexit. I look forward to meeting colleagues in Slovenia and Croatia to discuss the future of CAP post 2020." 

In Bosnia Herzegovina Minister Doyle will visit Irish Defence Forces stationed at EUFOR Camp outside Sarajevo.

Note for editors:

Information on Brexit is available at www.gov.ie/brexit