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President Connolly meets King Charles during four-day visit to Scotland
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President Connolly meets King Charles during four-day visit to Scotland

PRESDIENT Catherine Connolly has met with King Charles while on an official four-day visit to Scotland.

The Irish President began her trip yesterday, where she met with the First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, and the Minister for Europe, External Relations and Energy, Stephen Gethins, at Bute House in Edinburgh.

President Connolly, who is accompanied by her husband Brian McEnery, previously met with First Minister Swinney last November, when he visited her at Áras an Uachtaráin.

President Connolly met with First Minister of Scotland John Swinney on day one of her trip to Scotland

He was the first overseas head of government received by the President following her inauguration earlier that month.

It was at that meeting that Mr Swinney invited the President to visit Scotland.

Elsewhere yesterday President Connolly visited the National Library of Scotland, where she met the team working on the UK-Ireland funded project, ‘Across these Islands: Shared histories, Shared futures’.

The President is accompanied on the trip by her husband Brian McEnery

President Connolly later visited the Royal Society of Edinburgh, where she received an honorary fellowship, before attending a special dinner hosted by King Charles at Dumfries House in East Ayrshire.

President Connolly received an honorary fellowship from the Royal Society of Edinburgh yesterday afternoon

While at the RSE, the President also meet with the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Kenneth Gibson.

The visit will continue until September 19, with the President attending engagements in Glasgow, Coatbridge, and the Isle of Skye where she will visit Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture.

In a statement ahead of the Official Visit, President Connolly said she was "very pleased to have the opportunity of making an Official Visit to Scotland and building on my engagement with the First Minister in the opening weeks of my Presidency".

President Connolly pictured during her visit to the National Library of Scotland

"Ireland and Scotland are bound by strong ties of friendship, culture and language, with people moving between our countries for centuries," she added.

"I am very much looking forward to meeting with those involved in many of the projects bringing our people together over the coming days, as well as meeting with members of the Irish community in Scotland.”

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