Taoiseach to travel to Japan and Singapore next week

Micheál Martin will offer Ireland's condolences to Japan after the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe

Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe, whose assassination 'has shocked the world'. Picture: Eugene Hoshiko/AP

The Taoiseach will offer Ireland's condolences to Japan after the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe when he flies to Tokyo next week.

Micheál Martin will touch down in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon local time, before meeting with representatives of the Irish community in the city. The Taoiseach will visit the site of the new Ireland House in Tokyo which is due for completion in 2024 and meet with political representatives, the business community, and members of the Irish diaspora.

The Taoiseach will also meet with Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida to discuss the "long and well-established political and economic relationship between Ireland and Japan and to explore opportunities to bring relations and exchanges to a new, higher level".

He will use the meeting to express "sincere condolences to the Prime Minister and the people of Japan on the killing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which has shocked the world", a Government statement said. 

Mr Abe, one of Japan’s most influential politicians, was assassinated last Friday in western Japan, shocking a nation known for its low crime rate.

On Thursday, the Taoiseach will fly to Singapore, where he will meet with prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and deputy prime minister and minister for finance Lawrence Wong. While in the city-state, the Taoiseach will also meet with a number of Irish companies operating in Singapore, engage with the Irish community, and visit Changi Chapel and Museum.

This is the first visit to Japan by a taoiseach since 2013 and the first to Singapore since 2004, and the Taoiseach said that he will raise the issues of global challenges and Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Mr Martin's travel as Taoiseach has been severely curtailed by the pandemic, including testing positive for Covid-19 in Washington DC, which stopped him from meeting US president Joe Biden in the Oval Office in March.