Minister McEntee on Ireland’s Place in Europe and Reconnecting with Citizens

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee TD, will today (22 January) deliver a keynote address on Ireland’s upcoming EU Presidency – her first significant EU Presidency policy speech since becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence.

Speaking at an event hosted by the European Parliament Liaison Office and the European Commission Representation in Ireland, the Minister will set out the latest preparations for Ireland’s EU Presidency and thinking on key EU policies under the strategic pillars of values, security and competitiveness.

The Minister will also emphasise that the Presidency is an important opportunity to reconnect citizens with what Europe means in their lives. She will say: “We are living in a new moment in history. A moment where events move at extraordinary speed, where assumptions we once took for granted are being challenged. And where choices we make as a county, as a Union – matter more than ever.

“I want to begin a discussion that will take place right across Ireland over the next year – in cities and towns, in schools and universities, in community halls and workplaces.

“This meaningful conversation begins with a simple question: What does the EU mean for Ireland?”

The Minister will add that: “Ireland enjoys very high levels of support for the EU.

“Despite this, I am concerned by a rising level of euro scepticism in our country. It’s still a whisper but it’s growing louder. It puts forward the seductive populist claim that our problems – and like everybody else we have our problems – do not lie in our own hands, they must be the fault of somebody else – and the EU or “Brussels” is a convenient somebody.

“I want to foster a national conversation on Europe because we cannot cede the stage to these voices – we cannot allow these whispers to go unchallenged.”

The Minister will also highlight Ireland’s ongoing Presidency Preparations and the importance the Government attaches to the shaping of policy and decisions at EU level. The Minister will say: “I would like to focus on the three broad pillars of values, security and competitiveness, which many of you will be aware are also the three pillars of the Strategic Agenda for the EU agreed by European leaders in late 2024.

“In my view, these three pillars go to the heart of what we want to achieve every day in Europe and they are deeply, intrinsically, interlinked.

“Without security, there can be no prosperity.

“Without competitiveness, we cannot sustain our societies.

“And without values, none of it matters.”

ENDS

Press Office

22 January 2026