Ireland's relationship with Egypt

Ireland and Egypt have a deep and enduring friendship based on shared values and people-to-people connections.

Diplomatic relations were established in the mid-70s, which saw the Embassy of Ireland open in Cairo in 1975. Egypt followed suit, opening its Embassy in Ireland in 1978, the first Arab country to do so.

Ireland and Egypt share a rich history of friendship that has evolved over time into the strong relationship we enjoy and cherish today.

The legends of Egyptian monks being amongst the first to bring Christianity to Ireland is supported by various evidential traces and most recently by the discovery in 2006 of the 1,200-year-old Faddan More Psalter in a bog in County Tipperary. The book, Egyptian in style and bound in Egyptian leather, comprising vellum and papyrus but most likely created in an Irish scriptorium hints strongly at the connection between both lands and the links between early Irish Christianity and the Middle Eastern Coptic Church.

Other similar evidence of those links were uncovered in Ireland when in the 1950s, royal skeletons carbon dated to 1,350 BC were unearthed in Tara, adorned with faience beads and collars scientifically deemed to be identical to those found on King Tutankhamun.

More recently, the Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf, Upper Egypt, was established by Dr Frank Harpur, an Anglican Christian missionary from Ireland. Dr Harpur sailed up The Nile in a boat he utilised as a floating hospital, receiving patients and treating them both physically and spiritually. He opened a permanent hospital in Menouf in 1910 and since then the hospital, a ministry of the Anglican Diocese of Egypt has continued to grow, providing leading medical services aimed at holistic healing for all.

In 1978, 43 Egyptian Air Force pilots received their training in Ireland under a deal struck between Aer Lingus and aircraft manufacturers to train dozens of Egyptian Air Force personnel that would assist in the establishment of a standards laboratory near Cairo for both civil and military uses.

Our two nations share common experiences in the early 20th century in gaining freedom from colonial rule within months of each other and we share many similarities in our values, among them our friendliness, open nature, strength of character and resilience. Both our peoples are friendly and open-hearted, are strong in character and traditions and in resilience and determination to build a better future.

Ireland and Egypt are committed to the UN and its charter, with both countries proudly boasting a long association with UN Peacekeeping operations. Egypt and Ireland work closely together in the field of nuclear disarmament and are members of the New Agenda Coalition.

There are an estimated 4,000 Egyptians living in Ireland and approximately 350 Irish who call Egypt home today. These communities in Ireland and Egypt are growing and vibrant groups, with both nationalities renowned for the value they place on family bonds and community spirit.

Ireland and Egypt can lay claim to effecting a change to the international order when our soccer teams met in Italy at the Soccer World Cup in 1990. Considered by many as a match best forgotten, it ended in a scoreless draw but resulted in soccer’s global governing body rewriting the rules of the game.

With every Egyptian immensely proud of the pyramids and The Sphinx, Ireland is proud to be part of the preservation of that rich heritage with an Ireland-based architectural firm designing the landmark Grand Egyptian Museum. Similarly, in looking to the future with the construction of the New Administrative Capital, we are proud that an Irish architectural firm designed the new Opera House.

Ireland and Egypt have modest two-way trade, which in 2023 amounted to approximately €1.7bn in both goods and services. The range of imports and exports between both countries is growing and extends from cleaning, cosmetic and flavouring products to dairy and eggs, fruits and vegetables, and on to medical and pharmaceutical products, paper and steel amongst others.

It is expected that this two-way trade will continue growing, assisted by the increasingly regular direct flights between Cairo and Dublin, currently flying 5 days a week in summer months and 4 days weekly in the winter months. Operated by the Egyptian national carrier EgyptAir, this air-bridge connecting our two capitals facilitates increased tourism as well as exchanges of people and ideas between our two states.

Although bilateral trade levels are relatively modest, Irish investments in Egypt amount to over €100m per annum and remittances from Egyptian workers based in Ireland similarly total circa €100m per annum.