Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, greets Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, of Ireland, in his West Block office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Thursday.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Nearly a decade after Canada and the European Union signed a comprehensive trade deal, Ireland’s Taoiseach, the equivalent to its Prime Minister, says his country will ratify the pact before the end of the year.
Ireland is also planning a trade mission to Canada in the coming months.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin spoke with The Globe and Mail Thursday at the residence of Irish ambassador John Concannon in Ottawa after a meeting earlier in the day with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“What we want to do is have a comprehensive state trade visit to Canada,” he said, adding that there will be interim visits from Ireland’s ministers of enterprise, culture and higher education.
He also said he invited Mr. Carney to visit Ireland.
Specifically, Mr. Martin listed medical technology and pharmaceuticals as sectors of strong exports from Ireland to Canada.
“We’re importing a lot of corn from Canada. So, the Irish agricultural industry is a very significant source of economic activity between our two countries, potentially,” he said.
Dublin is planning a new metro system, and he said Canadian companies will have opportunities to work on that project.
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The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, was signed on Oct. 30, 2016 and most of its core measures, such as the elimination of nearly all tariffs on goods, are already in place on a provisional basis.
However, final approval requires ratification by each EU member state, and Ireland is among 10 countries that have not yet ratified the deal. Seventeen nations have ratified it. Supporters of CETA say full ratification would provide certainty for businesses and investors.
Mr. Martin said his government has approved the drafting of required legislation and expects ratification to occur before the end of the year.
“CETA has been a game changer for Ireland and Canada,” said the Taoiseach.
Since becoming Prime Minister in March, Mr. Carney has made expanding economic, diplomatic and military ties with Europe a priority. His frequent meetings with European leaders are driven in large part by Canada’s current tensions with its two main trading partners, the United States and China.
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Mr. Carney and Mr. Martin met for breakfast Thursday before a bilateral meeting on Parliament Hill. During brief joint public remarks, Mr. Carney pointed out that his grandparents are from Ireland.
“This is one of our strongest relationships, culturally, economically, with respect to shared values and foreign policy. There’s many illustrations of that,” he said, adding that there are over 800 Irish companies operating in Canada and trade has doubled since the signing of CETA.
The Conference Board of Canada and the Government of Ireland released a joint report Thursday called “Beyond Barriers” that aims to lay out the economic potential of deeper trade and investment ties between the two countries.
The report says that at the end of 2023, Canadian-based multinational enterprises operating in Ireland employed more than 22,000 people, while Irish equivalents operating in Canada employed more than 19,000 people.
It says Canada has potential to increase exports in financial services, air transportation services, and management and consulting services.
The top opportunities for Irish growth in Canada are identified as being in computer services, insurance and pension services.
The report points out that since Britain left the EU, Ireland is the only primarily English-speaking EU member. There are also diaspora ties between Canada and Ireland, with over 12 per cent of Canadians reporting Irish ancestry.
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Canada’s efforts to increase trade with Europe are being met with genuine “two-way” engagement, Mr. Martin said.
“If certain countries are adopting a protectionist stance and increasing tariffs, to me, it makes sense that like-minded countries would work more closely together to develop greater free trade areas,” he said.
Mr. Martin said he and Mr. Carney also discussed the conflict in the Middle East. Ireland formally recognized the State of Palestine in May, 2024, along with Spain and Norway.
Canada announced the recognition of a Palestinian state this week, along with Australia, Portugal and Britain, in connection with a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
“In terms of Palestine, I mean, I had a good chat with the Prime Minister on it. I think both of us see it through a moral framework, in terms of humanitarian law, but also the slaughter must stop,” said Mr. Martin.
“The vast, vast majority of people were for a two-state solution. For a two-state solution to happen, there has to be two states.”