Irish-Mexican Relations

During the Spanish colonization of Mexico, several Spanish viceroys were of Irish descent, the last of which was Juan O'Donoghue ^[1] . Since the independence of Mexico, many Irish immigrated to this country, contributing to its culture and development ^[2] . During the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), many Irish immigrants in the United States deserted and joined the Mexican forces for religious reasons, since they considered this war an American attack on Catholicism ^[3] . One of the most famous Irish military units during the war was the St. Patrick's Battalion , which fought on the Mexican side during the Battle of Buena Vista and the Battle of Churubusco in 1847 ^[4] .

January 10, 1974 countries established official diplomatic relations. At first, Mexico was represented in Ireland through its ambassador in London , and the interests of Ireland were represented in Mexico by the ambassador from Washington . In 1990, countries agreed to open diplomatic missions, and in June 1991, Mexico opened an embassy on Raglan Road in Dublin, and Ireland opened an embassy in Mexico City in September 1999. ^[5]

On March 20, 2013, the presidents of Ireland and Mexico, Michael Higgins and Enrique Peña Nieto, held a bilateral meeting in Rome , the day after the papal intronization of Pope Francis . Enrique Peña Nieto made an offer to Michael Higgins to pay a visit to Mexico ^[6] , which he accepted and arrived in Mexico on October 19, 2013 as part of a trip to Central America ^{[7] [8]} .

In 2013, Europol made a statement that Mexican drug cartels plan to ship cocaine and cannabis to Ireland and mainland Europe. It was also said that there is evidence that Mexican drug cartels use Ireland as an intermediate point for delivering drugs to Europe ^[9] . In 2016, it turned out that the leader of the Irish organized crime group, Christie Kinahan, collaborated with the Sinaloa cartel in transporting cocaine from Peru to Europe ^[10] .

In 1997, Mexico signed the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union (which includes Ireland). In 2007, Mexico was Ireland's 21st largest trading partner. In 2017, trade between countries amounted to $ 2 billion. Ireland's exports to Mexico: pharmaceutical and medical products, medicines, machinery, chemicals, dairy products and electronics. Mexico's exports to Ireland: alcohol (beer), lemon, aircraft spare parts ^[11] . In 2008, the Irish government opened Enterprise Ireland in Mexico ^{[12] [13]} . Irish multinational companies such as Kerry Group , Ryanair and Smurfit Kappa Group are represented in Mexico. The Mexican company Cemex operates in Ireland ^[14] .

• Ireland has an embassy in Mexico City ^[15] .
• Mexico has an embassy in Dublin ^[16] .