This weekend’s official visit by the Canadian prime minister to the country of his forebears comes at a significant time for both Ireland and Canada.
Mark Carney has been vocal about Canada’s need to seek out new alliances and markets and reduce its dependency on the United States, while international trade uncertainty about the US means Ireland also sees Canada as a partner for developing further trade in goods and services.
Mr Carney’s visit to Ireland is part of a six day whistle-stop tour to Europe as he first visited France yesterday and will return there to participate in the G7 summit.
Emmanuel Macron with Mark Carney at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris
He is due to land at Dublin Airport around 10am this morning. First he will visit the Taoiseach at Government Buildings where the two men will hold discussions and host a press conference.
Later after a visit to Trinity College, Mr Carney will attend an official State dinner in Dublin Castle, where he will meet with other members of the Government and give a speech.
Gardaí expect some rolling traffic delays in the city centre.
Tomorrow, in Mayo it is likely that there will be traffic delays and restrictions. The official aspects of the visit will commence in Westport when Mr Carney meets President Catherine Connolly in the historic setting of Westport House.
Afterwards he will proceed to the place his family hails from, where he is set to attend mass in the parish church and visit the Aughagower graveyard.
Aughagower graveyard in Co Mayo
Later on, a civic reception to honour the Canadian prime minister in Westport will bring the historic visit to a close.
There is already a healthy trading partnership between Ireland and Canada but that is set to grow further, as Ireland will shortly ratify the CETA trade agreement (although it has been operational for a number of years).
Trade in goods and services between the countries has already expanded from €3.2 billion in 2016 to €12 billion in 2024.
Among the Canadian products imported here are cereals, while pharmaceutical products lead Irish exports to Canada.
When we think of Irish emigration to North America, it is generally the United States that comes to mind. However Irish Canadians are the third largest ethnic group in Canada, with 4.5 million people or 12% of the population claiming Irish heritage.
Proof of the regard Ireland is held in came in the Canadian House of Commons five years ago when a motion designating March the Irish Heritage month was adopted.
While migration links go back centuries, for the last 87 years Ireland and Canada have had diplomatic relations which continue strongly today.
Ireland has an embassy in Ottawa and consulates in Vancouver and Toronto while Canada has an embassy in Dublin.
According to the prime ministers office, while here Mr Carney will focus on “deepening longstanding cultural and people-to-people ties and expanding trade ties”.
Canada also looks on Ireland as one of its “most like minded partners in the European Union” sharing “core democratic values and common priorities”.
While this official visit to Ireland is the first in nearly a decade for a Canadian prime minister, it is the first official visit ever for a Canadian prime minister to Co Mayo!
Two of Mr Carney’s grandparents emigrated from Aughagower in 1925, so it will be very much a homecoming for Mark Carney, where he will get to catch up with all of his Mayo cousins.
While his father reportedly visited decades ago, locals say this visit is Mr Carney’s first.
An historic event for the Carney family for sure.