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TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS today updated the Government on preparations for Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Harris, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, told government ministers of Ireland’s proposed hosting of a major EU summit during the upcoming Irish presidency of the European Union next year.
Ireland will hold the EU Presidency from July to December 2026. During that period, Irish Ministers will be responsible for chairing meetings of the Council and steering the EU’s legislative and policy agenda.
If the offer to host a summit of the European Political Community (EPC), an intergovernmental forum set up after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it would see Ireland hosting 47 heads of state and government from across Europe.
Russia and Belarus have been excluded from the previous summits.
Representatives from Nato and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have also previously been invited.
If it goes ahead, the summit will take place around the same time as an informal meeting of the European Council, which will involve the 27 EU’s heads of state and government.
Extensive preparations for Ireland’s EU presidency will be required across all government departments, Harris will tell Cabinet.
Ireland will hold the EU presidency between 1 July and 31 December 2026. It will be the eighth time Ireland has held the presidency.
Through the term of the presidency, ministers will also be required to chair Council meetings and represent the Council in interactions with EU institutions and other international bodies.
Harris also told Cabinet that scoping work is already underway to identify locations and venues for presidency meetings.
“We expect to host a summit meeting of the European Political Community in Ireland during the Presidency in 2026,” Harris said in a statement this afternoon.
“This Summit will be one of the most significant high-level international events ever held in Ireland. It is likely to involve up to 47 Heads of State and Government from across the continent of Europe and will be a unique opportunity for Ireland to take a leadership role at international level.”
Harris added that this summit will be one part of “an extensive programme” of Presidency events in Ireland, which will also include an informal meeting of the European Council, between 16 and 20 informal Council meetings at Ministerial level, and a wide range of conferences and other events.
“Preparations for our Presidency are well advanced and we are determined to deliver a Presidency which delivers for Ireland, which delivers for Europe and which delivers for our global partners,” Harris said.
Meanwhile, back in Ireland, the cost of living out of control, housing out of control, renting out of control, infrastructure failing, and health system failing. Trump signed 100 executive orders on the first day. The government took a week off to get to terms with briefs with three new ministers. Something really wrong.
@did you every wonder: and a lot of those executive orders are being challenged. People are losing their jobs and the cost of living there is rising.
@did you every wonder: you’re right, something is really wrong. You are detached from reality. Incidentally Govt didn’t go on holidays, Dail not sitting actually gives Ministers more time to focus on important issues, and not the stunts the opposition get up to.
@Johnny Wilson: Oh look the multi-account troll has changed into his Johnny Wilson cape.
@did you every wonder: with trumps 100 executive orders…
1. Inflation is beginning to rise increasing the cost of living primarily for those outside the billionaire class.
2. 10s of thousands of job losses
3. Health care benefits rescinded disproportionately affecting the working class
@Argus Romsworth: he voters would actually be better off had he have been on holidays
How much will it cost us the taxpayers
@John Hally: That won’t even cross their minds.
@John Hally: things like this bring in money… you think fancy lunch, dinner, a few pint of Guinness etc. are going to cost more than it’ll bring in.
@Eoghan O Sullivan: how exactly is this supposed to generate money?
@John Hally: 40 billion in funding from the EU later and we still get claptrap comments like this..
@Damien Leahy: by the amount of foreign press , politicians encourages and security all paying for accommodation and generally adding to the economy, And that’s not to mention the advert ireland on world media
@Damien Leahy: it’s called soft power, it’s generated a lot of money for the state already, look around, all those large MNCs, you may not like them but they are generating a lot of money.
@Robert Halvey: there’s zero cost to the taxpayers then? You’re in dream land.
@Damien Leahy: you have to spend money to make money. Google it.
@Eoghan O Sullivan: our government are well able to spend it.
a few sheds in the back garden should be ok to host them all, unless moving a few migrants from hotel another alternative ?
Two of the closest articles to this set out failures in mental health and eating disorder beds. Promises broken.
But yeah by all means, let’s show off to the puppet masters.
We’re allowed to comment on stories today, how kind.
@087 bed: You certainly made the most of it; eh?
Have we ever had two worst leaders, not one but two of them they are spineless wimps, stay at home and fix all the problems,no one voted for them to be ministers of every other country in the world
@N D K:
Jobs for anyone that wants one, 99.90 per cent of it’s people with a roof over their head. Not the worst leaders around as you claim.
As the Irish people want to be part of the European project, It’s the government’s job to play its part in its administration.
@H Woo: Third world health care and anyone who owns a house is paying a hell of a high price for the privilege
Could be a summit on EU military unification if they were being true to their intentions. Ursula might even arrive to give MM a little pat on the head
I wonder, would they and their entourage be liable for the upcoming tourist tax?
Well, that sounds like a great time not to be in Dublin. Six months of commuter hell as they cordon off city streets to accommodate the movements of VIPs.
Jesus, Twitter exec in Dublin gets 500k award from the WRC? He should be fined 500k for enabling such a sewer in the first place. Toxic long before Musk.
I see Eoghan McCabe of Intercom in San Francisco is offering 100k to investigate virtue signalling in the Irish Times. Irish Times should offer 100k to investigate his harassment of women in the company. What a creep.
These EU summits are such a waste of taxpayer money. I don’t know why they can’t just meet in Brussels or Strasbourg every year and save countries from wasting needless amounts of money of security arrangements, accommodation, transportation and venue preparation. Each of these yearly summits cost between €40 million and €60 million to host, although sometimes the amount can increase even more. When Holland hosted the NATO summit last year, it cost €75 million. I don’t expect Simon Harris to care about this though, or the fact that our national debt keeps increasing. Fine Gael is the party of big spending and wastefulness. I wouldn’t be surprised if they run over budget for this EU summit just like they seem to do with everything else that they are involved in these days.
@William Jennings:
After the Celtic tiger collapse people complained they were introducing austerity.
So which is it.
@H Woo: I want the government to make proper spending cuts and to stop wasting so much taxpayer money on unnecessary pet projects like this. The austerity cuts were only small in the grand scheme of things and were only done to get a nod of approval from the IMF that we were making progress to pay back the bailout money. The austerity spending reductions still failed to make a dent in our national debt which is continually increasing. Austerity only works if you cut the size of government as well. If you don’t, all that happens is the cuts are reversed and you’re back to square one in terms of having bloated budgets.
I have a cunning plan, I am going to Spain claim asylum get put up in a Hotel with all my meals provided and some pocket money, whose with me?
oil nomadic people because they feel they are lesser than western, they can wear 2 different brands of shoes on one time
Like ….left leg Gucci and right leg Armani
Or they can wear rolex and Philip in one hand ……
Just for show
@sakk sa: we all know what you use one hand for. Mammy! New sock! Waaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
It’s a great opportunity. Our 2013 Presidency (our 7th?) was a great success, I remember.
Arts Council wasted €124,085 on a scanner.
Some flex
Definitely think Una Healy should be the MC at this.
Stick to the main job please. Sort home out first!
Nero fiddled while Rome burned
I hope none of these European leaders have to use out 3rd world health service, will be in for a massive shock,they’ll think they have been transported to Somalia
have your say