H.E. Mr. Dan Mulhall:

I met them a couple of times at recent events, although I cannot remember exactly where they were. We have exchanged cards and I have encouraged them to contact me about the issues affecting them. They explained these briefly but we only had a conversation standing up for a couple of minutes. I would need to sit down with the women to speak properly with them. The Deputy should encourage them to do so. I expected them to follow up with me but they have not yet done so. I would be delighted to speak with them.

I am a great believer in inclusivity and the role of the embassy should be to cover Irishness in all its expressions. For example, last year I was asked to launch at the Embassy the London Irish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual network. It was a tremendous evening and a wonderful occasion, as the people who came along that evening probably felt they would never be welcome at an Irish embassy. I told them that whatever may have been the case when they left Ireland, it is now a country that can embrace Irishness in its broadest expression, including that particular community. I encouraged them to continue to connect with Ireland, as some of them had been gone for a long time and perhaps had difficulty. I encouraged them to believe that we are now a country very different from that which they left many years before. It is now capable of embracing a range of identities and defining them as Irish.