Irish president meets King during official visit to Scotland

The King has met with Irish President Catherine Connolly as part of her official visit to Scotland.

Charles hosted Ireland’s head of state at a private event at Dumfries House in East Ayrshire on Wednesday evening.

The King had earlier held a Harmony in Food and Farming reception at Dumfries House, involving agricultural industry leaders from around the world.

Earlier, Ms Connolly met with First Minister John Swinney at his official residence of Bute House in Edinburgh.

Irish President Catherine Connolly began her four-day visit to Scotland by meeting First Minister John Swinney at Bute House in Edinburgh (Tony Maxwell/PA)

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During the first day of her visit, Ms Connolly received an honorary fellowship from the Royal Society of Edinburgh before learning more about a project it funds with the Royal Irish Academy that works to help deaf victims of gender-based violence in rural areas.

Over the course of the visit, the president will travel to Glasgow, Coatbridge and the Isle of Skye, where she will visit Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Scotland’s national centre for Gaelic language and culture.

Speaking ahead of her visit, she said: “I am very pleased to have the opportunity of making an official visit to Scotland and building on my engagement with the First Minister in the opening weeks of my presidency.

“Ireland and Scotland are bound by strong ties of friendship, culture and language, with people moving between our countries for centuries.

John Swinney and his wife Elizabeth Quigley, both centre, greeted Irish President Catherine Connolly and her husband Brian McEnery outside Bute House (Steve Welsh/PA)

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“I am very much looking forward to meeting with those involved in many of the projects bringing our people together over the coming days, as well as meeting with members of the Irish community in Scotland.”

Mr Swinney said he was “honoured” to welcome Ms Connolly to Scotland as he stressed the “deep and enduring connections” between their nations.

The Scottish First Minister told the Press Association: “I was delighted to welcome President Connolly, the President of Ireland, to Edinburgh this morning.

“I was the first head of government to meet President Connolly after her election last year in Dublin and I’m delighted that so early in her term in office she’s come to visit Scotland.

President Catherine Connolly met US President Donald Trump earlier this month. (James Manning/PA)

“We had an extensive conversation around the relationship between Scotland and Ireland, and some of the global challenges that we all are part of in relation to conflict around the world, and in relation to climate change.

“We also talked about some of the domestic priorities and issues that are at stake here in Scotland, particularly the work that I am taking forward on violence against women and girls.”

Earlier this year, Ms Connolly made an official visit to London and Leeds, meeting the King at Buckingham Palace, and she has also made two official visits to Northern Ireland, while in June she met the First Minister of Wales, Rhun ap Iorwerth.

She met US President Donald Trump when he visited Ireland last weekend.