Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill in Germany for St Patrick's Day 2026

Munich

The first stop on the Minister's visit to Germany was Munich where she:

• participated in the Munich St Patrick's Day Parade, the largest of its kind on the European continent;
• met with Bavaria's Minister for Health Judith Gerlach MdL and conducted a joint visit to Irish-Bavarian MedTech company Luma Vision;
• attended the annual St Patrick's Day mass and concert in St Ludwig's Church;
• participated in the Irish Business Network/Munich Irish Network St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.

Frankfurt

Minister Carroll MacNeill then travelled to Frankfurt. Whilst in the city she:

• attended the Consulate General of Ireland's St Patrick's Day Reception as guest of honour;
• received a guided tour of the Frankfurt Jewish Museum;
• participated in the ECB St. Patrick’s Day reception, hosted by Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland;
• met with Merck KGaA, including the company's CEO of the Life Sciences Division, Jean Charles Wirth, and Head of Global Healthcare Operations, Maria Teresa Rodo;
• held a meeting with Enterprise Ireland & their client company CubeMatch.

Dusseldorf & Cologne

In North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) Minister Carroll MacNeill

• visited the State Parliament of Nordrhein-Westfalen, where she was greeted by Landtag President André Kuper.
• discussed health priorities in NRW & Ireland with her counterpart NRW Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann.
• met with representatives of Irish company & Enterprise Ireland DACH client Sons | B Corp & their partners at Redcare Pharmacy, who are helping to bring Sons’ products to the European market;
• visited Enterprise Ireland client company Aryza
• spoke at the Cologne St Patrick’s Day Reception hosted by Ireland’s Honorary Consul General Brigitte Wagner-Halswick.

Berlin

In Berlin, Minister Carroll MacNeill TD undertook a joint visit to Charité Clinic's leading Endometriosis Centre with German Federal Minister for Health Nina Warken.

The ministers received a guided tour of the Endometriosis Centre from it’s Head Professor Sylvia Mechsner, and discussed women’s health & endometriosis treatment options.

The Minister's programme concluded with the annual Berlin St Patrick's Day Receptions hosted by the Embassy.

The Embassy welcomed friends and colleagues from across the diplomatic, political, business and Irish community to mark Ireland’s national day.

Guests enjoyed a wonderful taste of Ireland with thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and our talented musical performers.

Our sincere thanks goes to:
🧀 Ornua for the Kerrygold Cheddar Cheese and Kerrygold Cream Cheeses, which were served on homemade brown soda bread and Irish brown bread crackers
🍲 Irish Country Meats for the Irish lamb used in our Irish Stew
🐟 Irish Seaspray for the organic Irish smoked salmon served on homemade brown soda bread
🍫 Lir Chocolates for the Baileys Chocolate Truffles
🍷 The Old Roots for the Irish wine from Wexford in Ireland’s sunny south east – with thanks to General Manager Esperanza Hernandez for organising
🥃 Private Pier Industries GmbH for the Grace O'Malley Spirits Irish Whiskey and Granuaile Irish Gin
☘️ Diageo for the Baileys Irish Cream Liquer
🟢 Radeberger Gruppe KG for the Guinness

Throughout the day, we were delighted to have Padraic Rowan sing the Irish, German and European Union anthems, accompanied by Bríd Ní Chatháin on the harp, Ireland’s national symbol.

The anthems were later performed by ‘An Cór’, the Embassy’s choir, conducted by Maeve Carolan and directed by Laura Murphy.
For the remainder of the evening, guests were treated to Irish traditional music by Nightlark.

Go raibh míle míle maith agaibh go léir – to our sponsors and our performers, for bringing a taste of Ireland to Berlin to mark this St Patrick’s Day.

Overall, Minister Carroll MacNeill visit to Germany highlighted the depth of the ties between Ireland & Germany, across all areas. It was a valuable opportunity to mark Ireland's national day & simultaneously strengthen connections between our countries on political, business & local community levels.