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Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, Simon Coveney TD begins official visit to Washington DC

The Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, Simon Coveney TD, will today, Wednesday 4 October, begin a two-day working visit to Washington DC, his first visit to the US capital since being appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade last June.

Minister Coveney will today meet with US Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, with whom he will raise the Bombardier anti-dumping case, and with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, both of whom are key figures in the Trump administration.

In a keynote address this afternoon, Minister Coveney will speak to an audience of some 100 guests, at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies, about Brexit and its potential impact on the island of Ireland.

On Thursday, Minister Coveney will meet with Speaker Paul Ryan and with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. He will also be meeting with other members of Congress from both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as with the US Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking in advance of his visit, Minister Coveney said:

“The key objective of my first visit to Washington DC as Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, is to engage with the Trump administration and from both sides of Congress. Following the tragic event in Las Vegas, I will also take the opportunity to personally convey my own sympathies and those of the people of Ireland to our many friends in the United States.

“I will be updating a number of our key political contacts on developments in Ireland, including our continued economic progress, the implications of Brexit for the island of Ireland and the political situation in Northern Ireland.

“I will be reaffirming that the Government would very much welcome the appointment of a new Special Envoy for Northern Ireland by the Administration, as part of its continuing support for the Peace Process.

“We will also be discussing the continued importance of the Ireland-US economic relationship and topical foreign policy issues.

“I will be raising our longstanding concerns on the status of our undocumented. In that regard, I am very pleased that Deputy John Deasy, the Government’s Special Envoy for the Undocumented to the US Congress, will be with me in Washington DC to participate in my immigration discussions.

“In my meeting with Secretary Wilbur Ross I will be raising the Bombardier case. I will be outlining to him the Irish Government’s concern, as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, as to the potentially serious implications of a negative ruling for the Bombardier workforce in Belfast and for wider economic stability in Northern Ireland which is an essential support to the Peace Process.”