a day ago
Tánaiste to meet Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan for annual forum
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will meet with Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan in Swansea this morning for the annual Ireland-Wales Forum.
It is expected that a new statement of co-operation between both governments, covering the next five years, will be agreed today.
The forum was established in 2021, in the aftermath of Brexit, to help strengthen ties between both countries.
It aimed to build on an Irish-Welsh regional cooperation agreement that operated when the UK was part of the EU, but which lapsed when the UK left the bloc.
The first co-operation agreement was signed in Cardiff in 2021 between former Tánaiste Simon Coveney and former First Minister Mark Drakeford.
Previous achievements from the forum include the Greenlink interconnector between Wexford and Pembrokeshire.
The new 2030 Statement will establish a new framework for bilateral co-operation until the end of the decade.
Speaking ahead of the forum, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that the new shared statement "underlines the breadth of connection between us, across trade, research, energy, culture and language".
Ms Morgan described the new statement as a "step forward" in the relationship between both countries.
As part of today's forum, both Mr Harris and Ms Morgan will meet with researchers at Swansea University, who are working with research colleagues in Cork and Limerick.
They will also meet with the energy company MaresConnect, which is building an interconnector between Wales and Ireland.
