State Visit to Portugal
Published: Mon 7th Dec, 2015 | 09:45
President Michael D. Higgins will make a State Visit to Portugal from the 8th to the 12th December, at the invitation of the President of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva.
The President will accompanied by Sabina Higgins. This is the first State Visit to Portugal since the visit of President McAleese in 2002.
On Tuesday afternoon, 8th December, Military Honours will be rendered at Áras an Uachtaráin as the President and Sabina Higgins depart for Portugal. (Details will be provided by the Defence Forces)
On Wednesday, 9th December, the President will lay a wreath at the tomb of poet Luís de Camões, at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, before proceeding to an Official Welcome Ceremony at the Belém Palace where the President and Sabina Higgins will be formally received by President Cavaco Silva and his wife, Maria Cavaco Silva.
The President will later meet with Portugal’s Prime Minister, António Luís Santos da Costa. Their meeting will continue over lunch hosted by the Prime Minister. The President and Sabina Higgins will visit Lisbon’s City Hall that afternoon, where they will be welcomed by the Mayor, who will present the President with the keys of the city. The President and Sabina Higgins will be guests of honour that evening at a State Dinner hosted by President Cavaco Silva and Mara Cavaco Silva.
On Thursday, 10th December, the President and Sabina Higgins will visit the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), before being guests of honour at a business lunch hosted by the Embassy of Ireland in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and IDA Ireland.
That afternoon’s programme will include a welcome ceremony at Portugal’s Parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. The President and Sabina Higgins will also visit the Convent of Bom Sucesso, home to Irish Dominican Sisters for close to four hundred years.
That evening, the President and Sabina Higgins will welcome President Cavaco Silva and Maria Cavaco Silva as their guests of honour to a performance of Irish poetry and music presented by Culture Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
On Friday, 11th December, the President and Sabina Higgins will visit Porto, the second largest city in Portugal where their programme will include an official welcome ceremony and lunch hosted by Porto’s Mayor, Rui Moreira.
They will visit CEiiA, a Portuguese not-for-profit engaged in innovation and research in the transport sector, and meet there with CEiiA and Enterprise Ireland client companies engaged in a networking event. That afternoon, the President and Sabina Higgins will visit Porto’s historic centre which has been recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
This is the fourth State Visit by President Higgins since taking office. Other State Visits have been to the UK, Croatia and China.
The President and Sabina Higgins will return to Dublin on Saturday, 12th December.
