Ireland takes over the symbolic six-month EU Council presidency from Cyprus, for the eighth time since joining the bloc 53 years ago – with unions set to rally in Dublin on Wednesday (1 July) to demand better working conditions for essential workers.
The Emerald Isle is expected to host 264 high-level meetings for ministers and EU leaders, including a European Political Community summit and an informal EU leaders’ summit in November. An international AI summit will also take place in October.
The whole EU presidency comes with a price tag. The government has allocated about €293m, according to public records recently published in what seems to be a transparency exercise that future countries hosting the EU Council presidency could well imitate.
Notably, this will be the first time Ireland holds the presidency with the Irish language fully-integrated as an operational working language of the Brussels machinery. A dream that came true only in 2022.
“Ní neart go cur le chéile,” is their motto, a traditional Irish proverb that means “strength with unity”.
