Leo joins U2 for UN Security Council bid
Varadkar rocks up at new York gig
LEO Varadkar joined Bono in New York last night as part of a glitzy campaign to convince diplomats to back Ireland’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.
The Stateside PR blitz included the Taoiseach hosting a delegation of United Nations chiefs at U2’s sold-out gig at Madison Square Garden.
Tonight Mr Varadkar will be joined by Tanaiste and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, former president and UN Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and Bono for the formal pitch at an event on the lawn of the organisation’s famous headquarters in New York city.
The charm offensive marks the official launch of Ireland’s election campaign for a nonpermanent seat on the Security A HELICOPTER used by a notorious criminal in a daring jailbreak is loaded into a truck by police.
Redoine Faid, 46, was whisked from the courtyard of his prison yesterday by heavily-armed accomplices.
The mobsters hijacked the copter at a flying club and made the pilot fly to Sud Francilien prison in Reau, near Paris. After picking up Faid, they landed in a field and sped off in a black Renault Megane. The pilot was freed unharmed. Hollywood-obsessed Faid was serving 25 years for a 2010 robbery bid in which a police officer died. In 2013, he escaped jail for six weeks. French authorities said: “Everything is being done to locate the fugitive.”
Jailbreak was Redoine Faid’s second Council for the 2021-2022 term. Ireland is competing with Canada and Norway for one of two places.
Mr Varadkar said: “Ireland’s campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council is central to our international agenda and is driven by our belief we are far stronger acting together than we are acting alone. Winning a seat on the UN Security Council would place Ireland at the heart of UN decisionmaking on international peace, security and development.
“It would also continue Ireland’s proud tradition of international engagement dating back to our admission to the UN in 1955.”
This morning the Taoiseach will participate in a ceremony to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Ireland’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations.