16/03/2026
As part of our global St Patrick's day programme of Ministerial visits, we had a wonderful trip to Glasgow on Friday and Saturday as we hosted John Cummins TD for a series of engagements with political contacts, Irish businesses and the Irish community in Scotland.
During his time in Scotland he visited the advanced manufacturing site of Alexanders Timber Design in Irvine, an example of the impact of Irish FDI by Longford based Enterprise Ireland UK client Glennon Brothers which supports the construction and housing sectors in Scotland. This state of the art facility can produce components for 2500 homes a year using Scottish sourced timber, delivering houses faster and more sustainably than alternative methods. In addition to their Scotland operation, how the use of timber framed houses can further support the delivery of more homes on the island of Ireland was also discussed.
Other engagements with the Minister included meeting with the leader of Glasgow City Council Susan Aitken to express condolences for the devastating fire in the city last weekend, academics from the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute involved in supporting local authorities to meet their climate commitments, the wonderful teams in the Glasgow offices of Enterprise Ireland and Tourism Ireland and a range of Irish tourism operators who visited Scotland this weekend.
The highlight of the weekend was the Minister joining the Irish community in Scotland for the second annual Glasgow St Patrick's Day parade and the Glasgow St Patrick's day festival, where he was joined by Scottish Government Minister Ivan McKee MSP, the Lord Provost of Glasgow Cllr Dr Jacqueline Mclaren, elected representatives from across Glasgow and thousands of Irish dancers, GAA players, musicians, community groups and spectators from across the city. It was also fantastic to see so many musicians travelling over from Ireland, including two pipe bands from Donegal for a wonderful celebration of Irish culture, the work of the Irish community in Scotland and the strong links that bind our two countries.
With a busy programme of SPD events over the next week across Scotland, the period couldn't have gotten off to a better start. ☘️