I am delighted to be here in Saudi Arabia and very happy to have the opportunity to meet with you this evening.
Since arriving in the Kingdom, I have enjoyed the hospitality for which this country is rightly renowned and I am therefore glad that tonight our Saudi Arabian friends may in turn sample the warmth of an Irish welcome. To our Irish citizens, I say Céad Míle Fáilte and wish you all continuing success in your lives and work here in the Kingdom.
This is not my first visit to the Kingdom. I was here previously in 1989, when I visited the Eastern Province and Riyadh. From that trip, I am aware of many of the ties between Ireland and the Kingdom. From the 1970's particularly, there has been a continuous Irish presence in Saudi Arabia, in a wide range of occupations - doctors, nurses, dentists, teachers, bankers, engineers, consultants, computer professionals, farm managers - the list is endless.
Perhaps one of the most famous is Al Marai, which started life as Masstock, a company run by the McGuckian Brothers. All told, the connections are many and happy ones and have left a strong and positive image of Saudi Arabia in Ireland.
And of course, in recent years, we have a growing Muslim population in Ireland, some of them from Saudi Arabia - around 40,000 at present and growing steadily. Indeed, about 200 Irish and Irish-based pilgrims travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj this past month. These people are part of our new Ireland and it is a benefit to all of us to have them bring their own particular outlook to the Ireland of today.
In the Gulf region, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains Ireland's strongest market and here with us tonight are representatives of Irish companies who are determined to make that market even stronger. The robust performance of Saudi Arabia's economy in recent years - which looks set to continue well into the future - has brought fresh opportunities for collaboration between our two countries. These opportunities have not only been for enterprises but also for education providers, as shown by the large numbers from our education sector that have travelled here this week.
The Irish airline, Aer Lingus, and Gulf Air now have direct flights to the Gulf region. These links will not only give the opportunity for Irish people to fly direct to the Gulf but also for those visiting Ireland from the Gulf area to do so more easily.
We hope that Saudi citizens will avail of this opportunity to see something of the greenery of Ireland and the rain, which I am told, you like. We can almost guarantee rain - even in summer!
It has been a pleasure to meet with you this evening. I know that though far from home, members of the Irish community here in the Kingdom retain a pride in their Irishness and cherish the ties that connect them to Ireland and to each other. I am sure you will continue to enjoy yourselves tonight and I wish you all a great evening.
ENDS