The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, is making an official visit to Ireland on 29-30 June where he meet the Minister for Justice, Charles Flanagan, Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee and parliament speaker Seán Ó Fearghaíl.

He aslo had a meeting with President Michael D. Higgins.

The Secretary General gave a speech on Populism and the threat to democratic security at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Iveagh House) at 6pm on Thursday evening.

Address to the European Broadcasting Union’s General Assembly on Friday 30 June

Whilst in Dublin, Thorbjørn Jagland gave a keynote address to the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union on the topic of freedom of expression, the challenges posed by hate speech and fake news and the role of public sector media. The event was hosted by Ireland’s public broadcaster RTE.