Kenny, Bruton on trade mission to Middle East

Ninety Irish companies from a variety of sectors are taking part in a trade mission in the Middle East.

Lead by the Taoiseach, it's hoped the five-day visit to will boost business links between Ireland and the Gulf.

Enterprise Ireland has offices in Saudi Arabia since the mid 80's and in Dubai since 2002.

It's providing a large and comprehensive research database to Irish companies looking at the middle eastern market for the first time.

Enda Kenny is joined on the mission by the Minister for Jobs and Enterprise Richard Bruton, who said there are a wide range of companies taking part.

"They're across a range of sectors - you'd have big companies like Jones Engineering in the construction sector.

"It's a range of companies across the financial, software, telecommunications, construction and of course aviation is another big sector here we would be targeting with the huge presence of airlines in this part of the world."