Georgia on mind of Westmeath Minister set for St Patrick's Day trip to US

Westmeath Minister of State Peter Burke will have Georgia on his mind this St Patrick's Day, as he is due to travel to the US State as a representative of the Government.

The list of destinations where Ministers will be headed for the national feast day in March was released yesterday.

It revealed that the Fine Gael Minister from Mullingar would be visiting the State of Georgia to attend St Patrick's Day events in the cities of Atlanta and Savannah.

Peter Burke has been a Longford-Westmeath TD since 2016. He is currently serving as the Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence.

He is one of eleven Government politicians, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who are planning to travel to the US for St Patrick's Day.

Another Midlands Junior Minister, Offaly's Senator Pippa Hackett, will be by the Baltic Sea for St Patrick's Day, visiting Finland, Estonia and Latvia.

Ms Hackett became a Senator in 2019, and is the Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

More than 30 State representatives will be heading abroad for trips that take in all corners of the globe this St Patrick's Day.

"Programmes undertaken by Ministers will strengthen our links with the diaspora and business leaders," the Department of Foreign Affairs stated yesterday (Tuesday).

The Department added that St Patrick's Day presented "an unparalleled opportunity to promote Ireland as a great place to visit, work, study, trade with, and invest in".