McGuinness welcomes Irish hierarchy to European Parliament

MEP Mairead McGuinness, who is vice-president of the European Parliament, welcomed the Irish Catholic Hierarchy to the Parliament on a special information visit to the EU institutions recently.

She sais: 'I was delighted to welcome Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, and Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly SMA, Archbishop of Cashel & Emly, together with 13 bishops from the island of Ireland to the European Parliament.

'It is important that the European institutions maintain an open and continuous dialogue with our religious representatives who often make valuable contributions to debates on policy areas such as tolerance, freedom and other broader topics such as migration, climate change and social justice,' Ms McGuinness said.

The Midlands North West MEP greeted the hierarchy as vice-president of the European Parliament and held a wide-ranging discussion on Parliament's role and on key issues including migration and the future of the EU.

The Bishop of Clogher Liam MacDaid, Bishop of Cloyne William Crean who is Chair ofTrócaire, and Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran also attended.