McGreehan tells Taoiseach British-Irish Council presents opportunities for Louth

Fianna Fáil TD for Louth Erin McGreehan has told Taoiseach Micheál Martin that the British-Irish council presents opportunities for the county. 

Deputy McGreehan was addressing a Dáil discussion on the Taoiseach's visit to the British-Irish Council summit in early December. 

She said the annual summit presents "local opportunities, particularly in County Louth". 

The Fianna Fáil TD said it would give Louth the chance to "enhance our Irish language, arts and music between communities". 

She used the example of the Omeath District Development project, which she said is "doing incredible work unveiling and celebrating our last Gaelic speakers in north Louth". 

"The last native speaker was Anne O'Hanlon who died in 1960. She was from Lislea in Omeath," she said. 

Deputy McGreehan said stories like that "need to be celebrate stories like that and celebrate our Irish language". 

"There is an opportunity, particularly when we look at cross-Border co-operation and our history with the flight of the Fadgies from Omeath to west Belfast. There are cultural opportunities that we need to focus on cross-Border and between our two islands," she said. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Louth TD's point was "very interesting" however, he said the British-Irish Council is structured around "three pillars namely climate and decarbonisation, culture and heritage, and economic and social inclusion.

The Taoiseach referred Deputy McGreehan to a shared island initiative called 'Shared Home Place'. 

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The initiative was first launched by the Taoiseach in late 2025. The initiative includes a focus on languages and cultural heritage such as the arts, music and literature across the island. 

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.