Ambassador of Ireland, Mary O’Neil hosted a reception to mark Ireland’s National Day i.e., St Patrick’s Day in Islamabad at Serena Hotel.
This was an historic occasion as Ireland was celebrating St Patrick’s Day for the first time in Pakistan and one could see a large number of guests including parliamentarians, diplomats, ministers and the Pakistani and the Irish communities attending the reception and extending greetings to the ambassador, her husband, the embassy’s staff members, their families and the Irish nationals.
After Pakistan and Ireland agreed to establish diplomatic ties with each other, Ireland opened its embassy last year in Islamabad and Mary O’Neil the first ambassador of her country presented her credentials to President Asif Ali Zardari in August 2024.
Since then, Mary O’Neil has been active on diplomatic front to strengthen bilateral ties and establish B2B and the P2P linkages between the two countries.
Thursday’s reception also reflected her increasing popularity among the diplomatic as well as the government circles.
Minister of State for Climate Change & Environmental Coordination, Dr Shezra Mansab Ali Khan Kharal was the Chief Guest on the occasion while among the noted guests included Ambassador of European Union (EU) Dr Riina Kionka, Anwar Saifullah and Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of Pakistan Observer Mr Faisal Zahid Malik.
In her speech the Chief Guest congratulated Ambassador Mary O’Neil on the St Patrick’s Day and conveyed on behalf of the Prime Minister and the people of Pakistan the best wishes for the leadership and the people of Ireland.
She also welcomed Ambassador O’Neil to Pakistan as the first ambassador of Ireland.
You will find Pakistanis a friendly nation and I am sure will enjoy your stay here, she said.
Pakistan values ties with Ireland
Pakistan, she said valued relations with Ireland and looks forward to enhancing ties in multiple areas including trade, tourism, health, education and other sectors.
The Irish ambassador earlier in her welcome address expressed gratitude to the guest for attending the event.
Ireland looks forward to coordination with Pakistan in diverse areas she said and both the countries are actively engaged with each other particularly to increase business and trade.
Since Ireland is a member country of the European Union both Pakistan and Ireland are also engaged under the European business and trade framework.
A cake was cut and national anthems of both the countries were also played.
