Juan David Latorre
On the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s National Day, Ambassador Frank Smyth yesterday invited the Diplomatic Corps to a reception at his Madrid residence, where he was accompanied by the Minister of State at the Irish Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Neale Richmond, and the President of the Madrid Assembly, María Eugenia Carballedo.
“We Irish are often called the Latins of the North,” began Irish Ambassador Frank Smyth, noting that genetic studies show that our most distant relatives are from the land of the Iberian Peninsula. This is a badge of honour that we wear with pride.”
Highlighting what the posters at the entrance to the event read: ‘So very lucky’, “something we Irish like to say about ourselves”, Frank Smyth once again thanked the guests for their attendance and passed the floor to the Secretary of State at the Irish Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Neale Richmond, who is on an official visit to Spain on his way to Portugal and who praised the “wonderful Spanish culture” and the way of working that “is expressed in very good business relations between Ireland and Spain”. The Secretary of State then blew out the candles on a cake to celebrate his birthday, which, by surprise, was brought by the Ambassador.
The reception was attended by the ambassadors of Ukraine, France, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Sweden and Indonesia, as well as representatives from Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Chile, Austria, Poland, Cyprus, Israel and Paraguay.
