You might consider participating in the poll to choose the logo that will represent Ireland’s EU Presidency in the first six months of 2013. The poll was launched yesterday by the Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore T.D. and Minister of State for European Affairs, Lucinda Creighton T.D..
Voting is as easy as clicking on www.eu2013.ie where you can find details about the four logo designs. The site is hosted by Merrionstreet.ie, the Government News website.
Speaking at the launch, the Tánaiste said: “in planning the look and feel of the Presidency, I want to open up the process to everyone in selecting the logo for the Presidency, which will be the starting point for how the Presidency will present itself to all of the other Member States.”
Also at the launch, Minister Creighton expressed the hope that people would have their say and get involved in the selection of their favourite logo: “With just over 12 months before the Presidency begins, we are asking the public to decide on the logo which they believe best represents the image we want toproject of our Presidency of the other EU MS.”
The poll will end at 5pm on 31 December with the winning design announced early in the New Year.
As for more local matters, this week the Embassy hosted the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Pat Breen T.D. His programme on Monday was focused on how best to promote Irish trade in Asia generally and Korea particularly.
Deputy Breen met with KOTRA, the impressively resourced Korean trade promotion agency, and was briefed by Enterprise Ireland and the Embassy on Ireland’s current approach. He also discussed trade promotion best-practice with the Ambassadors of Denmark and Belgium, the Director of the Swiss Business Hub at the Swiss Embassy and a trade expert at the EU delegation.
Deputy Breen travelled on to Busan to join the Irish delegation at the Fourth High Level Forum (HLF4) on Aid Effectiveness, and to participate in the Parliamentary Forum there.
The Irish delegation at the HLF4 Busan is headed by the Minister for State for Trade and Development, Jan O’Sullivan T.D. As well as participating in the Forum proper, Minister O’Sullivan joined the Thematic Sessions and focused on a number of “side events” including on gender and hunger. She met with the participating Irish NGOs and also with the heads of delegation from Ireland’s nine partner countries (where we have aid programmes – see www.irishaid.gov.ie ) to discuss the ongoing review of the White Paper on Irish Aid and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Africa Strategy.
Minister O’Sullivan travelled to Busan after her first visit to Vietnam, one of Ireland’s partner countries. During her four-day visit to Vietnam, she met a number of high level partners in the Vietnamese Government, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Hoang Trung Hai. In addition to discussing opportunities to expand bilateral trade between Ireland and Vietnam, the Minister launched the programme of development co-operation between Ireland and Vietnam for the next five years.
Having attended the Opening Ceremony in Busan, I can attest to the hospitality and organisational capacity of our Korean hosts who managed almost 3,000 attendees and some 120 delegations, international organisations and NGOs with their customary skill and efficiency.
For more information on the Forum, the Outcome Document and the issue of aid effectiveness generally visitwww.aideffectiveness.org.
Best wishes,
Eamonn McKee / Ambassador
