Minister Charlie McConalogue has confirmed he was unable to travel to Canada for St Patrick’s Day after testing positive for Covid.
Minister McConalogue was one of 33 government ministers to travel abroad to promote Ireland on March 17th.
However, posting on his Facebook page this evening, the Inishowen man said he was forced to cancel his Canadian trip.
Instead, he took his seat on the VIP lorry at the Buncrana St Patrick’s Day parade.
“It’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow some good,” he said.
“So, although I had to cancel my plans to travel to Canada for St Patrick’s Day as a result of getting Covid, I was clear in time to attend the wonderful parade in Buncrana.”
Minister McConalogue with Cllr Nicholas Crossan at the parade in Buncrana.
And, the minister was full of praise for those involved in the Inishowen carnival.
“Well done to all on organising a great St Patrick’s Day for the town and to all those who made St Patrick’s Day so special across our county. It was great to see everyone getting to enjoy themselves again, three years on from the last parade. How important the simple things in life are.”
Minister McConalogue’s business in Canada was to centre around the ‘Global Ireland’ programme of promoting Ireland as a great place to live, visit, work, study, and invest.
It was the first time in two years that the Taoiseach and senior and junior ministers were able to travel overseas for the occasion.
Indeed, the Taoiseach is self-isolating in Washington after testing positive for Covid there.
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