Ministers in line for more junkets

THEY are just unpacking their suitcases after St Patrick’s Day junkets.

And now ministers could be in for more foreign trips after the Government announced a new trade and tourism policy to “sell Ireland and raise the country’s profile abroad” in 2010.

A document circulated to all ministers by Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan, outlines plans to develop “a new strategy for trade, tourism and investment” which will be developed in the coming months. It said a number of “key trade missions to key markets” will take place this year which will be “invaluable in building on established business relationships, resulting in increased exports to existing markets and in creating openings in new markets and sectors.”