{"id":402236,"date":"2026-04-16T21:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/402236\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:06:09","slug":"security-in-europe-a-key-focus-for-irelands-eu-presidency-says-taoiseach-in-berlin-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/402236\/","title":{"rendered":"Security in Europe \u2018a key focus\u2019 for Ireland\u2019s EU presidency, says Taoiseach in Berlin \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> has said the Irish presidency of the European Union<\/a> from July will include a strong focus on the themes of competitiveness, values and security.<\/p>\n

He was speaking in Berlin<\/a> after meeting German<\/a> chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a> on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The visit was part of the Taoiseach\u2019s programme of meeting European Union<\/a> leaders in advance of the State\u2019s presidency of the EU Council<\/a>, which begins in July.<\/p>\n

The two leaders discussed the impact of rising energy prices and the wars in the Middle East<\/a> and Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Martin said he briefed Merz on Ireland\u2019s preparations for the presidency.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a small country, it\u2019s a great privilege to work on behalf of the 450 million people that call the European Union their home.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said without a stronger, competitive economy Europe would not be able to improve the living standards of its citizens. <\/p>\n

\u201cResponding to the change in the security landscape will also be a key focus of our presidency. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing support for Ukraine in the face of Russia\u2019s continuing illegal war,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe chancellor and I also discussed other international issues, including conflict in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland\u2019s EU presidency: How it works and what to expectOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Martin said there was an urgent need to bring hostilities to an end to allow for the disruption to energy supplies to be dealt with.<\/p>\n

Merz said both leaders had agreed on the central issues of the Irish presidency. Regarding the EU\u2019s financial framework until the end of the year, he said negotiations would enter the decisive phase under the Irish presidency.<\/p>\n

Merz is travelling to Paris on Friday for an international meeting hosted by French president Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Keir Starmer on a possible mission to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Merz said Germany \u200cwas, in principle, ready to help secure transit routes after hostilities in the region end, provided there is a mandate, preferably from the United Nations, and German parliamentary approval. However, \u201cwe are still \u200ba long way from all of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0German emergency fuel supports unlikely to enhance chancellor\u2019s low approvalOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He declined to specifically address a question on a report in the S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung newspaper saying that \u200cGermany was prepared to \u2060offer demining and maritime surveillance expertise.<\/p>\n

On the Iran conflict, Merz said there was a need for a sustainable peace. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor that to happen, we need to have a sustainable agreement on the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to find an agreement here. Iran must not be allowed to wield power over nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach\u2019s trip to Germany coincided with a letter issued by three younger Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> TDs strongly criticising the direction of the party.<\/p>\n

The TDs \u2013 Cork East\u2019s James O\u2019Connor, Galway East\u2019s Albert Dolan and Tipperary North\u2019s Ryan O\u2019Meara \u2013 indicated \u201creal and deep concern\u201d with the Government<\/a>\u2019s response to the fuel price protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Even the best-case scenario is bad\u2019: EU chief warns of higher gas prices \u2018for years\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Asked if recent dissatisfaction would put pressure on his leadership of Fianna F\u00e1il, Martin replied: \u201cNo, it won\u2019t\u201d. <\/p>\n

He added: \u201cMy position is not under threat in any shape or form.\u201d \u2013 Additional reporting: Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has said the Irish presidency of the European Union from July will include a strong…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5148,96282,895,8864,171749,292,61,60,150432,1843,43,9688],"class_list":["post-402236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-european-union","tag-european-council","tag-fianna-fail","tag-friedrich-merz","tag-fuel-protests","tag-germany","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-israel-iran-conflict","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-ukraine-crisis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}