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Dara Murphy TD, Minister for European Affairs, represented Ireland at today's Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Ministerial in Barcelona, the first such Foreign Ministerial meeting since 2008. The UfM provides a unique forum for regional cooperation and dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The migration crisis and international terrorism were two of the main issues addressed at the conference.

Speaking in Barcelona Minister Murphy said:

"I urge the Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean to pool their considerable resources to seriously address the two distinct challenges of migration and international terrorism that we are currently facing, including their root causes in war, poverty and human rights abuses.

"The Union for the Mediterranean, uniquely, brings together the 28 Member States of the European Union and 15 countries from the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean in one intergovernmental organisation. As such, the UfM has an important role to play as part of the coordinated response to these common challenges."

As well as acting as a forum for regional dialogue, the UfM funds projects across a wide spectrum of activities including business development, water and environment, and energy and climate action.