Martin Heydon holds the fort as top ranking minister in Ireland for St Patrick's Day
Minister Martin Heydon
Kildare's two ministers will have missions of some responsibilities for St Patrick’s Day, with Martin Heydon holding the fort at home – ostensibly as temporary Taoiseach – while James Lawless will represent the State in the STEM capital of the world, India.
“Minister Heydon will be the senior Government representative present in Ireland during the St. Patrick's Day missions this year,” said a spokesperson for the Minister for Agriculture.
“The Minister will also be leading an agri-food focused trade mission to the US in April, with details of this to be announced in due course”.
Ireland’s STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths) Minister James Lawless has quite appropriately been selected to represent Ireland in India for St Patrick’s Day, one of 38 such representatives visiting 90 cities in 40 different nations.
Originally, because of all the tariff talk around Washington since the recent change of administration, the Department of Agriculture had wanted Minister Heydon to go to the capital, and then to Kentucky – home of the American thoroughbred – however, he will do this on the April mission, and leave the DC duties to Taoiseach Michael Martin on the 17th.
Officially, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD has spoken of the opportunities his upcoming visit to India present for the third-level sector in Ireland, and will visit a number of cities in India as part of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations next month.
“This St Patrick’s Day visit is a fantastic opportunity for Ireland and India to celebrate the successes and opportunities we already collaborate on and share in the fields of education, research, and innovation, and to consider future opportunities ahead, building these networks and relationships,” said Minister Lawless.
“With over 9,000 Indian students in Ireland making up just over 13 per cent of international students in Ireland, this important relationship is something we hope to see continue and to grow.
“We have seen the success of developing research and innovation talent for the students who have come to Ireland from India to participate in post-Graduate study programmes, and vice versa.The Ireland India Institute at DCU has also been extremely important."
