Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, held talks on Thursday evening at the Grand Serail with the Irish President Dr. Michael D. Higgins on the situation in Lebanon and the region, the bilateral relations between the two countries, and the role played by the Irish unit within UNIFIL.

The Irish President arrived at seven thirty this evening to the Grand Serail, accompanied by his wife and were received by Prime Minister Hariri.

They held a meeting, in the presence of the members of the Irish delegation, which included the Minister of State for Defense Paul Kehoe, the Irish Ambassador to Lebanon Sean O Regan, the Secretary General of the Department of Defense Maurice Quinn, the Chief of Staff of Ireland's Defense Forces Admiral Mark Mellett, the Deputy Secretary General of the President of Ireland Conor Ó Raghallaigh, the Deputy Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Brendan Rogers, the President's Advisor Claire Power, his Executive Assistant Kevin McCarthy, the Honorary Consul General of Ireland in Lebanon Georges Siam, the Lebanese Minister of Defense Elias Abu Saab, the Minister of Displaced Ghassan Atallah and former Minister Ghattas Khoury.  

At the end of the talks, the Irish president wrote a statement in the golden register.

After that, Hariri held a dinner in honor of the Irish President and the accompanying delegation. The Lebanese participants to the talks attended, as well as Minister Mohamad Choucair, MPs Dima Jamali and Sami Fatfat, Lebanon's Ambassador to Britain Rami Mortada, the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Mahmoud Makkieh, the Secretary General of the Higher Defense Council Major-General Mahmoud al-Asmar, and Hariri's Advisor for military affairs Brigadier General Maroun Hitti.