THE FORTHCOMING visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ireland will mark the “culmination of a huge investment in peace by both the British and Irish governments”, President Mary McAleese said yesterday.
Speaking during her state visit to Spain, Mrs McAleese said the queen’s visit will be something “really worth celebrating” and a “historic moment both peoples can take great pride in”.
Mrs McAleese also said news of US president Barack Obama’s visit to Ireland is a “wonderful compliment” to the country.
“There will be huge interest in both these visits and it will give us the opportunity to tell the world that Ireland is open for business,” she said.
Bilateral talks between the President and Spanish prime minister José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero focused on tomorrow’s EU summit, Libya and Japan.
Mrs McAleese also paid a courtesy call on the congress of deputies, attended a bilingual school and received the medal of honour at the University of Alcalá de Henares.
The President also attended a masterclass of Irish food at the College of Catering and Tourism in Madrid yesterday. Food exports represent one of the biggest success stories in Ireland’s economy and one of the “great hopes going forward”, she said.
Exports in the food and drink industry are “beating all the odds by doing so well” and it is a “very important positive message” to bring to the world.
Accompanying Mrs McAleese, Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food Simon Coveney said his brief “is the good news story of the economy at the moment” .
He said that although he has a huge responsibility to farmers and fishermen, his department is “much broader than that. It’s about developing a food industry in Ireland that can expand and grow.”
Mr Coveney said the state visit was important to “build personal relationships” with his European colleagues ahead of forthcoming negotiations on fisheries and the Common Agricultural Policy.
“People sometimes underestimate the importance of building relationships outside of Ireland, especially in industries reliant on decisions made at an EU level,” he said.
Mr Coveney said he had spoken to his Spanish and French counterparts about the potential for processing in Ireland fish caught by foreign vessels off Irish waters.
The Minister said this move alone has the “significant potential to create jobs and wealth in coastal rural communities”.
Mrs McAleese will spend the final day of her visit in Barcelona today where she will attend the Sagrada Família cathedral before meeting the president of the government of Catalonia, Artur Mas.
The President will address an Enterprise Ireland pharmaceuticals gathering and meet members of the Irish community at a reception in the city hall before returning to Dublin this evening.