Pres. Sirleaf receives new Irish envoy’s Letters of Credence
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has received the Letters of Credence of the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Ireland, H.E. Catherine Campbell. President Sirleaf recounted the longstanding Liberia-Ireland relationship culminating in Ireland’s support in the areas many sectors of Liberia’s development processes.
According to an Executive Mansion release, President Sirleaf noted that it is interesting to see how far Liberia-Ireland relationship has come as well as the role of Irish missionaries deployed to Liberia many years ago to spread the gospel of Christ through the Catholic Church. “The civil interrupted the relationship before your return in 2003. Since then, Ireland has helped greatly with Liberia’s peace keeping and peacebuilding efforts in a strong way. We vividly remembered your gallant troops deployed with UNMIL and we remain grateful”, President Sirleaf said.
President Sirleaf also praised Ireland for helping with the education of the young people of Liberia by sponsoring several Liberians at GIMPA in Ghana and personally thanked the new Ambassador for her participation in the recently held International Women’s Colloquium in Monrovia.
“Liberia has had very difficult times, but 12 years of peace since the conflict ended is good for us as a nation and people. It has helped us improve governance, built infrastructures and bring general development to the people; this is a process that Ireland has been involved with and we thank you for that”, the Liberian leader concluded.
Responding, the Ireland Ambassador presented warm greetings from the President and people of Ireland. She personally acknowledged President Sirleaf’s leadership in peacebuilding, fight for justice and the battle against Ebola.
“Your personally achievements as well the what has been achieved by Liberia under your leadership is purely remarkable. You have promoted sustainable development and your country has made a lot of progress”, she noted. She assured President Sirleaf of her readiness to work with Liberia in the next few years, promising to strengthening the already strong relationship.
