MINISTER FOR FOREIGN Affairs Helen McEntee and Minister of State for International Development Neale Richmond are today travelling to New York to attend the United Nations (UN) High-Level Week.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said McEntee will highlight her priorities to colleagues at the UN, including the Middle East and Ukraine, and will underline Ireland’s “commitment to strengthening multilateralism and the international legal order”.

The minister is to co-host an event on Afghanistan in collaboration with the Malala Fund to highlight the situation of Afghan women and girls, lay a wreath at the 9/11 Memorial, and engage in business and trade meetings.

Meanwhile, the department said Richmond’s programme “reflects Ireland’s commitment to international development, humanitarian action and multilateralism at a time of growing global need and pressure on the international system”. 

Speaking ahead of the visit, McEntee said: “Leaders and Foreign Ministers gather this week at an absolutely critical juncture. Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan, and the impact they have both on people at home in Ireland and on the ground, will be the focus of our discussions.”

“I will use every opportunity to highlight Ireland’s steadfast support for multilateral cooperation and the international legal order with the United Nations at its core. Respect for international humanitarian law must remain at the centre of our collective response to these challenges.”

“As Ireland seeks election to the Human Rights Council from 2027-2029, we will champion human rights, gender equality and international cooperation at a time when these principles are under increasing pressure. I look forward to engaging with key partners on these shared challenges over the course of the week.”

Richmond said: “At a time of global instability, when development and humanitarian systems and budgets are under pressure like never before, we are seeing the real impact on human lives of cutbacks in development assistance.”

“Access to medicines for the poorest people have been reduced sharply and the great progress we have made in tackling infectious diseases such as HIV, TB and malaria is now at risk. This makes the role of multilateralism and the UN more important than ever,” he added.