Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at the Grand Serail with his Lebanese counterpart Nawaf Salam, on December 20, 2025. Photo taken from the Grand Serail's X account. irlandais_592013
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Saturday morning at the Grand Serail. Martin arrived in Beirut overnight to inspect Ireland’s contingent serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the south, according to a statement posted on X by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
The meeting focused on the situation in Lebanon, particularly in the south, as well as on bilateral relations between the two countries.
Ireland is among the contributors to UNIFIL’s funding in Lebanon. In March, it announced an additional $2.5 million contribution to the United Nations humanitarian fund for Lebanon.
On Dec. 14, 2022, Irish UNIFIL peacekeeper Sean Rooney was killed and three other Irish soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was attacked in Aaqibiyeh, southern Lebanon. On July 26, 2025, Lebanese authorities sentenced in absentia the main suspect in the killing, Mohammad Ayyad, a member of Hezbollah, to death.
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