Saint Patrick's Day Trade Reception

On the evening of Wednesday March 11, in the presence of the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris, the Embassy held its 2025 St. Patrick's Day reception in honour of the Franco-Irish business community. It was organised jointly with ourselves at NetworkIrlande and our colleagues from Team Ireland (Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board, Enterprise Ireland France, IDA Ireland, and Tourism Ireland) and sponsored by Stripe. Over 200 business people gathered for the event, many from far corners of France and from Ireland.

The Tanaiste and Ambassador Burgess highlighted in their speeches the importance of the friendship and economic partnership between Ireland and France and our two-way trade connections, which stand at over €45 billion. Tanaiste Simon Harris told the group that he had chosen France as his Saint Patrick’s Day destination given its importance as we look forward to Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in July. The Ambassador singled out two NetworkIrlande members in his speech: Irish sailor Pamela Lee for her incredible achievements on the seas and Irish haute Couture designer Roisin Pierce for her groundbreaking design work.

Sponsor Hugo Bon of Stripe shared Stripe’s vision for the region and how they continue to power Europe’s most ambitious success stories and fastest-growing companies.

A lot of fun was had with great music from Paddy Sherlock and a spectacular spread of tasty food and Irish and French beverages. We wish to thank the Embassy team for doing such a wonderful job.