Taoiseach Simon Harris (Niall Carson/PA)
A trade mission to Poland, to have been led by the Taoiseach, has been abruptly cancelled this moring.
The news has stoked expectations that a general election is about to be called.
The Irish Embassy in Warsaw today despatched an email with news of the cancellation to hundreds of invited guests
It said: “We regret to inform you that the government trade mission to Poland, led by the Taoiseach, will not proceed this month.
“As a result, the planned reception on 28 October at the Presidential Hotel will no longer take place. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
No reason was given for the cancellation.
A Government source said: “There is no drama. A terrible week was picked for it, unfortunately.
“We have a bank holiday that week, and Poland has two bank holidays. So we couldn’t get a strong enough representation — or a programme — from both sides.”
Just weeks earlier the Embassy of Ireland had announced the reception, to be held on 28 October, to mark the largest ever Irish trade mission to Poland.
It told invited guests: “The trade mission is led by Taoiseach Simon Harris, and includes Minister for Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O’Donovan, Minister of State for European Affairs Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Minister of State at Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine Martin Heydon, as well as a delegation of Irish companies.”
