President Higgins held a bilateral meeting with the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
In December 2013 President Higgins attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela. You can read the President’s statement on the Death of Nelson Mandela here.
In November 2014, the President and Sabina undertook an official working visit to Africa in. The President undertook engagements in Ethiopia, and Malawi before completing his visit to South Africa.
That visit recognised and built on Ireland's strong historic relationship with South Africa and the major contribution made by Ireland's development aid programmes and Irish missionaries.