Ireland, Japan agree to improve and strengthen ties

DUBLIN: Ireland and Japan have agreed to strengthen ties over the next number of years. Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed a joint statement this morning on a roadmap to improve and strengthen relations between the two countries.

On the second day of his visit to Japan, Mr Martin also discussed security issues in the Indo-Pacific region with the Japanese Prime Minister. “The security of Europe and that on Indo Pacific region are inseparable and we can never accept unilateral change of the status quo by force in any part of the world,” said Fumio Kishida.

EU/UK relations and the Northern Ireland Protocol as well as increasing cooperation on two-way graduate workers’ placements between Ireland and Japan were also topics of discussion between the two leaders.

Commenting on the war in Ukraine, PM Kishida said, “Russia’s aggression is an outrageous act that shapes not only Europe but also the very foundation of the entire international community including Asia”.

He also thanked the Taoiseach for his words of condolence following the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The Taoiseach invited the Japanese Prime Minister to Ireland. Mr Kishida said he remembered visiting Ireland in 2017 as foreign Minister on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Ireland and Japan.

Mr Martin visited the site of the planned new Irish Embassy and state agencies offices in Tokyo. Ireland House will be the location for the new Irish Embassy in Japan and will also include offices for Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA.

The building, which is expected to be completed in 2024, will be an exhibition space, a meeting place for the Irish community in Japan and the home of the Irish ambassador to Japan. The €21.4 million project is the Irish government’s largest foreign capital investment.