Mr. Mohammed Elbashir:

I thank the Chairman very much. We received a couple of emails. The first did not suggest that we would be speaking for five minutes or so while the second suggested we would, at which point it was a little bit late. However, I do have some main points to raise. I hope that will make me even briefer for the sake of the discussion.

Egypt and Ireland started on our paths to independence at pretty much the same time. The year 1922 was remarkable for both nations. There are a lot of similarities between the two countries' histories. Books have been written on this matter. It is no wonder that Egypt was one of the first African countries to establish diplomatic relations with Ireland, in 1975. The first African embassy in Ireland was the Egyptian Embassy, which was founded in 1978.

There are fewer than 5,000 Egyptian citizens residing in Ireland, where they live in a very peaceful manner. Most work in high-tech companies like Facebook and Google. I do not want to advertise for any companies but most Egyptian citizens here work in high-tech companies based in Ireland. Our bilateral trade is worth less than €500 million a year but we are working diligently to increase it in the coming period. A very important step that will boost bilateral relations, the beginning of direct flights between the two countries, was taken in June 2022. Egyptair flies direct from Cairo to Dublin four times a week, which helps our bilateral relations. These flights are always full so we are considering increasing the number of flights per week.

With regard to Africa, Egypt is a leading country in the African nation. We were one of the founding members of the Organisation of African Unity. Egypt has played a pivotal and very important role in the independence of almost every African country. We were very supportive of all independence movements in Africa. We are still playing this role in Africa. We have embassies in almost every country on the continent. I cannot think of one country in which we do not have an embassy.

We also have a very active Egyptian aid programme in Africa. We have discussed with the Irish authorities the idea of working together with the Irish Government on aid programmes in Africa. We were considering some sort of trilateral co-operation. We discussed the matter tentatively with Irish Aid but, due to the war in Ukraine, it has been postponed a little bit. We are going to revitalise it and work on it again because there are good prospects there and many aspects on which we could work together on the African continent.

I could not come here without mentioning Palestine, a very important subject that is dear to our hearts and to the hearts of the African continent. As a continent, Africa supports the Palestinians' inalienable right to statehood. We commend the position taken by Ireland in this regard. We believe that the Irish position has been very positive. We welcome it and expect even more from the Irish Government. It is setting an example not only for its country, but also for other European countries to follow. We look forward to the full recognition of the Palestinian state, which we understand is to come before the end of the month. We hope to hear some good news from Ireland before the end of the month.

Ireland's courageous and positive position has an impact on our position on Ireland. When Ireland is a candidate for different bodies of the UN or other entities, most of the time, it will get the support of the African continent. In its candidature for the Security Council in 2021 and 2022, it got the support of Egypt. I do not want to speak on behalf of my African colleagues here but I highly suspect that most, if not all, of us really supported Ireland in this regard. This is mainly because of its friendly positions on the continent and on topics that are very dear to our hearts, such as Palestine. We again thank Ireland for its position and we look forward to it doing more on Palestine in the current very critical period.