Canadian PM set for Mayo homecoming next week

CANADIAN Prime Minister Mark Carney will make an official visit to Ireland next week, in what will be the first bilateral visit by a Canadian Prime Minister in nearly a decade.

Carney will travel to Dublin to meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin before heading to Mayo, where he will meet President Catherine Connolly and visit the ancestral home of his family in Ayle, Aughagower.

His two grandparents left the village for Canada more than 100 years ago.

His office said the visit will focus on deepening Canada and Ireland's cultural and people-to-people ties and expanding co-operation across agri-food, digital innovation, AI, pharmaceuticals and climate.

Carney will then travel to France to attend the G7 Leaders' Summit.