merrion street

The Minister for European Affairs, Helen McEntee, held a bilateral meeting today with the Maltese Minister for European Affairs and Equality, Dr. Helena Dalli.

Minister McEntee welcomed Malta’s support on the Irish issues in the Brexit negotiations:

“The support of our EU colleagues during the Brexit negotiation process has been unwavering regarding the Irish issues. There is total support among the EU 27 regarding the need to have the Irish Protocol translated into a legally operable text in the withdrawal agreement by the October EU summit."

Both Ministers also discussed the issue of migration and Minister McEntee said:

“Ireland has increased funding for the EU-Africa Trust Fund to €15 million. We are continuing our participation in Operation Sophia and we are working on receiving migrants from the MV Lifeline which docked recently in Malta."

The Future of Europe was also discussed where Minister McEntee outlined the Citizens’ Dialogues that Ireland held throughout the country earlier this year. Minister McEntee and Minister Dalli also discussed the new EU Budget, including CAP and Cohesion funding and Ireland’s campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council.

Later today, Minister Dalli will speak at the Institute of International and European Affairs on the topic of a Europe that Respects, Invests and Protects.