Latest news with #Ireland-WalesForum
RTÉ News
03-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Ireland and Wales agree new co-operation programme
A new programme of co-operation between Ireland and Wales, running to 2030, has been signed by Tánaiste Simon Harris and Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan at the Ireland-Wales Forum in Swansea. The forum was established in 2021 in the aftermath of Brexit to help strengthen ties between both countries. It aimed to build on an Irish-Welsh regional cooperation agreement that operated when the UK was part of the EU, but which lapsed when the UK left the bloc. Mr Harris said it was "a really important demonstration of our deep friendship between our two countries. "We're near neighbours. We share common values. We share a sea, we share so much, and we want to work together in key areas where it makes sense, and we've been doing that for the last number of years". Mr Harris and Ms Morgan signed a new programme of co-operation between both countries running to 2030. Ms Morgan said it marked a "new phase" for the Ireland-Wales Forum. "We're taking it to the next level now, making sure that we get more outcomes that will help to shape the lives of people in Ireland and in Wales, better jobs, better opportunities, making sure that those relationships are meaningful. "You just saw this winter how the storm [Darragh] affected the way that goods were transported between Wales and Ireland. We've now got a strengthened cooperation around resilience, around our ports, making sure that we don't have a situation in future where there's a real threat to those movement of goods between our nations and people as well," she said. Previous achievements from the forum include the Greenlink interconnector between Wexford and Pembrokeshire. As part of the forum, Mr Harris and Ms Morgan will meet researchers at Swansea University, who are working with research colleagues in Cork and Limerick. They will also meet energy company MaresConnect, which is building an interconnector between Wales and Ireland.
RTÉ News
02-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Tánaiste to meet Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan for annual forum
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will meet with Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan in Swansea this morning for the annual Ireland-Wales Forum. It is expected that a new statement of co-operation between both governments, covering the next five years, will be agreed today. The forum was established in 2021, in the aftermath of Brexit, to help strengthen ties between both countries. It aimed to build on an Irish-Welsh regional cooperation agreement that operated when the UK was part of the EU, but which lapsed when the UK left the bloc. The first co-operation agreement was signed in Cardiff in 2021 between former Tánaiste Simon Coveney and former First Minister Mark Drakeford. Previous achievements from the forum include the Greenlink interconnector between Wexford and Pembrokeshire. The new 2030 Statement will establish a new framework for bilateral co-operation until the end of the decade. Speaking ahead of the forum, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that the new shared statement "underlines the breadth of connection between us, across trade, research, energy, culture and language". Ms Morgan described the new statement as a "step forward" in the relationship between both countries. As part of today's forum, both Mr Harris and Ms Morgan will meet with researchers at Swansea University, who are working with research colleagues in Cork and Limerick. They will also meet with the energy company MaresConnect, which is building an interconnector between Wales and Ireland.
