President Higgins to meet the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, at Áras an Uachtaráin
Date: Sun 19th May, 2024 | 13:05
Uachtarán na hÉireann, President Michael D. Higgins will this evening meet the President of Italy, H.E. Sergio Mattarella, at Áras an Uachtaráin.
President and Sabina Higgins will greet President Mattarella on his arrival at 7.30pm. The two Heads of State will then have a meeting where they will exchange views on a number of issues. This meeting is a continuation of a previous similar meeting in Rome in October 2023.
Following their meeting, President and Sabina Higgins will host President Mattarella, his daughter Laura and his delegation for dinner.
President Higgins will deliver remarks at the dinner, which will be responded to by President Mattarella. Those in attendance at the dinner will also include the Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Cllr Alan Edge, the Ambassador of Italy to Ireland, Ruggero Corrias, the Ambassador of Ireland to Italy, Patricia O’Brien, and representatives of the Italian community in Ireland.
Tomorrow, Monday, President Higgins and President Mattarella will jointly inaugurate ‘Parco Italia’ at Lucan House, Co. Dublin. For over 70 years, Lucan House has served as the official residence of the Italian Ambassador to Ireland. The departure of the current Ambassador in June brings to an end the residency by the Ambassador of the Republic of Italy in the House and the location, which has recently been purchased by South Dublin County Council, will be developed into a public cultural venue.
President Higgins and President Mattarella have met on a number of occasions over the course of their presidencies. Most recently, President Mattarella held a meeting with President Higgins and hosted the President and Sabina for lunch at the Quirinale Palace in Rome last October.
The meeting in October coincided with President Higgins’ addresses to the World Food Forum in Rome, where he spoke on the topic of food security, and a separate meeting which President Higgins held with Pope Francis at the Vatican. President Higgins will deliver a further address on the topic of food security when he is awarded the Agricola Medal of the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) at a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin on 7 June.
President Mattarella previously visited President Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin during his State Visit to Ireland in February 2018, when he planted a tree in the grounds of the Áras as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries.
The two Presidents have also regularly been in touch, including their meetings at the annual meeting of the ‘Arraiolos Group’ of non-executive European Presidents. The 2021 meeting of the Arraiolos Group was hosted by President Mattarella in Rome, during which the two Presidents also held a bilateral meeting.
ENDS