Taoiseach Micheál Martin and his wife, Mary O’Shea, have arrived at the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Leo XIV, part of a series of visits in the run-up to the start of the Irish presidency of the European Union.
The couple arrived by official car at the San Damaso courtyard in the Vatican on Friday morning and were greeted by the head of the papal household, Archbishop Petar Rajič, as the Swiss Guard greeted their arrival.
The meeting with the pope was expected to include a one-on-one discussion in Leo’s private library as well as a meeting with a delegation of senior Vatican officials.
Martin is set to meet Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Friday afternoon.
The Taoiseach met French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to discuss the priority issues for the Irish EU presidency, which begins in July, including the EU budget and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.