Minister Dara Calleary St. Patrick's Day Visit to Canada

The highlight of Minister Calleary's visit was the St. Patrick's Day Reception held at the Official Irish Residence hosted by Ambassador Concannon and Mary Concannon. Minister Calleary had the pleasure of joining the Ambassador, Deputy Head of Mission Elisabeth O’Higgins and Second Secretary David Conway in receiving the many distinguished guests, including the Guest of Honour, The Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, as well as a diverse range of Canadian Parliamentarians, diplomats, and leaders from the Irish community.

Check out the link below to see photos and videos from the reception!

Minister Calleary had the honour of attending the Prime Minister’s Question Period, during which he was acknowledged by Speaker of the House, Francis Scarpaleggia.

Minister Calleary attended a concert by Alan Doyle at the National Arts Centre. A dear friend of the Embassy, Alan Doyle is a notable Canadian musician with strong Irish roots that shines through his music.

The Minister had the pleasure of receiving a presentation on the historic presence of the Irish diaspora in Ottawa by local historian Michael McBane. The presentation was followed by a visit to the recently erected Bronze Shoes famine memorial in MacDonald Gardens Park.

Minister Calleary’s first official meeting was with Secretary of State for Rural Development, Buckley Belanger. They discussed their ongoing work on rural development in their respective countries, with Minister Calleary highlighting the rollout of broadband internet in rural Ireland as a major success story. Minister Calleary and Secretary of State Belanger agreed to establish contact between their government departments to share examples of best practice they could learn from.

One of Canada’s leading cloud and A.I. companies, OpenText, welcomed Minister Calleary and his Ireland team to discuss its ongoing expansion in Europe and in Ireland in particular.

The company plays an important role in Ireland's tech ecosystem with operations in both Cork and Galway carrying out a range of EMEA functions including technical support, cloud operations and R&D.

OpenText has grown into one of Canada’s largest software companies and provides over 330,000 customers with a comprehensive suite of software solutions.

The Minister met with Minister Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages, during which they discussed the Canada Ireland 180 initiative, which Minister Miller jointly launched with Minister Patrick O’Donovan in January.

Minister Miller has keen interest in language preservation, making history in 2017 when he delivered a statement in the House of Commons entirely in Mohawk, marking the first time the language had been spoken in either the House of Commons or Senate since Confederation.

Minister Calleary then attended a working lunch with key members of the Ireland-Canada Inter-Parliamentary Group (CAIE) including Irish-Canadian M.P., and President of CAIE James Maloney, Matt Jenereux M.P., Marie-France Lalonde M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Kody Blois M.P., Senator Iris Petten and Senator Robert Black.

Minister Calleary attended a meeting with Parliamentary Secretary for International Trade, Yasir Naqvi MP. They discussed deepening trade between Ireland and Canada, with a focus on diversifying trade with the EU as a whole.

Minister Calleary began the day with a radio interview on the Vassy Kapelos Show on iHeart Radio discussing the Minister’s St. Patrick’s Day programme, as well as opportunites for greater economic and political cooperation between Ireland and Canada.

The Minister continued his time in Ottawa with a courtesy call to the Mayor of Ottawa, His Worship Mark Sutcliffe, accompanied by Ambassador Concannon and Minister Calleary’s Special Advisor, Darragh Gallagher. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the return of the St Patrick’s Day Parade to Ottawa, Ireland’s success at becoming a hub for international tech companies and Ottawa’s growing defence innovation sector. The Minister also had the honour of raising the Irish flag outside city hall after addressing members of the Irish community.

Minister Calleary meet with Graham Stubbs, CEO Diona (Enterprise Ireland Client company), Joel Marchildon, Managing Partner Accenture, Cliff Groen, Associate Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development and Chief Operating Officer for Service Canada, Brian Hickey, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Benefits Delivery Modernization Implementation and Service Design branch, and Paul Wagner, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation and CEO of the Canadian Digital Service. During the meeting they discussed how Canada is using software to digitise and modernise their benefits system for the Canada’s Benefits Delivery Modernisation initiative and exchanged views on Ireland’s own modernisation processes.

For his last stop in Ottawa, before travelling to Montreal, the Minister attended a Business Leaders Lunch hosted at the Official Irish Residence for an opportunity to discuss Ireland-Canada trading opportunities with Enterprise Ireland clients.

To start off his journey in Montréal, Minister Calleary was given a guided tour of the Montreal Irish Monument with Fergus Keyes, Scott Phelan, Montreal City Councillor Stirling Downey and Mayor of Sud-Ouest de Montréal, Véronique Fournier. The Montreal Irish Monument is the largest mass grave in Canada and one of the most important Irish heritage site in Canada where 6000+ Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Hunger in Ireland were buried in the area in 1847.

The Minister then met with the Minister of International Relations and la Francophonie, Christopher Skeete. The meeting highlighted a strong interest in partnerships in research and innovation between Ireland and Quebec, as well as other initiatives in the cultural and economic areas, such as the recently published Canada-Ireland Economic report, which highlights the opportunities for boosting our bilateral trade. The official launch of the Canada-Ireland Economic Report in Quebec will take place this coming spring in Montreal and Quebec City. The meeting was also an opportunity for the two Ministers to discuss Minister Skeete’s coming visit to Dublin in late March with the aim of deepening trade between Ireland and Quebec.

The Minister also attended a business leader’s dinner, including representatives of EI and IDA client companies, to further discussions on Quebec-Ireland trading opportunities and the upcoming Economic Report launch in Montreal.

The day started with Minister Calleary attending a Business Breakfast jointly hosted by the Ireland-Canada Chamber of Commerce in Montreal, Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland.

Minister Calleary also had a meeting with Hubert Bolduc, President of Investissement Québec International (IQI). IQI works as a state agency of the Province of Quebec, with responsibilities similar to IDA and EI combined.

They discussed the upcoming trade mission to Ireland and the planned launches of the new Canada-Ireland Economic Report in Montréal and Québec City. Hubert Bolduc will also be accompanying Quebec Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie of Quebec, Christopher Skeete, on his planned trade mission to Dublin on March 26 and 27, during which he will attend the IBEC Business Leaders’ Summit.

The delegation concluded its visit to Montreal by attending the luncheon hosted by the St. Patrick's Society of Montreal, with the Minister being a guest speaker, alongside the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Honourable Francis Scarpaleggia.

The Consulate General of Ireland, Toronto had the pleasure to welcome Dara Calleary TD, Minister for Social Protection and Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to Toronto for a series of community, business and political engagements to celebrate Irish Heritage Month and St. Patrick’s Day.

Organized by the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Society, Team Ireland was honoured to participate in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which is one of the largest community events in Canada. Minister Calleary marched alongside Todd J. McCarthy Grand Marshall and Ontario Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and Acting Minister for Infrastructure, and countless community and cultural groups from the greater Toronto community

Congratulations to Shaun Ruddy and his team of volunteers for organizing one of the most multicultural parades in the world!

Minister Calleary and his team visited the Ireland Pop-up at the Eaton Centre – a market activation initiative to promote Ireland during Irish heritage month organized by Enterprise Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the Consulate General of Ireland, Toronto. The Pop-up featured 14 Irish brands across beauty, health, and fashion, along with Irish gin and whiskey tastings and live pop-up music performances.

Link to feature: Meet the 14 brands at CF Toronto Eaton Centre during Irish Heritage Month in Canada | Ireland.ie

Minister Calleary then had the opportunity to meet with local gaeilgeorí at a pop-up Gaeltacht hosted by the University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto.

Participants included Pa Sheehan, Assistant Professor at St Michael’s College and past ICUF scholar, Ceithleann Ní Dhuibhir Ní Dhúlacháin, current ICUF Irish Language Instructor, and Cameron Foley, two-time ICUF award recipient and current Consular Officer and Irish Community Liaison at the Consulate General of Ireland.

GREENING of the Falls!

As part of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening Initiatives, Minister Calleary was delighted to kick-off St. Patrick’s Day weekend in the Niagara Region with the greening of the iconic Niagara Falls, followed by a reception hosted by Sandra Moffatt Country Director of Tourism Ireland and Consul General of Ireland, Claire Fitzgibbon.

Niagara on the Lake

Minister Calleary also met with several political figures including James Maloney MP; Chris Bittle MP; Stan Cho MPP; Jim Diodati, Mayor of the City of Niagara Falls; David Adams, CEO Niagara Parks Commission; Erwin Wiens, Deputy Lord Mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake; and Maria Marividis, Councillor at Niagara-on-the-Lake; tour operators and members of the Irish Community in Niagara, including representatives of the Niagara Irish Music festival.

Minister Calleary also visited the Shaw Festival venue and toured their newly opened Artists’ Village. Named in honour of George Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival was founded by Irish-Canadian Brian Doherty 1962, and hosts around 10 productions each year.

In addition to the greening of Niagara Falls, Minister Calleary, accompanied by Ambassador John Concannon, Consul General Claire Fitzgibbon, Vice Consul General Cahal Sweeney, Sandra Moffatt, Country Director of Tourism Ireland, Eithne Heffernan Former Honorary Consul of Ireland in Toronto had also the opportunity to also see the greening of the Toronto Sign at Nathan Phillips Square.

In Toronto, Minster Calleary visited Éireann Quay where he paid his respects at the Canada Ireland Foundation’s Ireland Park Famine Memorial, and visited the Corleck Cultural Centre, which is set to become a major cultural and events space located on Toronto’s spectacular waterfront.

Minister Calleary also visited the future premises of Ireland House. Located in the heart of the financial district, Ireland House will host the offices of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the Consulate General of Ireland, Toronto. This project will give physical expression to Ireland’s commitment to strengthen its bilateral relationship with Canada.

Minister Calleary then attended a special Toronto Marlies St. Patrick’s themed game, which they won 3-0 against the Rochester Americans. He even got to meet the Marlies mascot, Duke the Dog!

The Toronto Marlies are a professional hockey team based in Toronto, and are an affiliate team of the Toronto Maple Leafs (previously named the Toronto St. Patrick’s). Each year both the Toronto Marlies and the Toronto Maple Leafs wear the St Pat’s green and white jersey in honour of St. Patrick’s Day.

Minister Calleary was invited as keynote speaker in a business breakfast organized by Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce Toronto, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Tourism Ireland. In this event, Minister Calleary had the opportunity to address over 120 attendees and give a brief on Ireland and Canada’s economic bilateral relation. In addition, he had the opportunity to engage with fifteen EI and IDA clients and discuss about the opportunities for Canadian companies to invest in Ireland.

Minister Calleary met with the Hon. Caroline Mulroney, Ontario’s Minister for Francophone Affairs to discuss the promotion of minority languages and efforts underway to provide public services through them. The Ministers agreed to follow up and establish contact at official level to share examples of best practice.

Minister Calleary also met with the Hon. Lisa Thompson, Ontario’s Minister of Rural Affairs for a lively discussion on rural community development, tourism and business. Despite the difference in scale between Ireland and Ontario, the Ministers found a great deal of common ground and agreed to follow up at official level.

Minister Calleary concluded his programme with a working lunch hosted by IDA Ireland where he met with leading Irish figures in top Canadian businesses to discuss ways to promote further Canadian investment into Ireland.