More flights and higher cost as conflict impacts Boxer's Australia trip

The missile strikes on Iran and other countries in the Middle East have resulted in changes to Athlone Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran's trip to Australia for St Patrick's Day, with extra flights added to his itinerary in order to avoid travelling over countries involved in the conflict.

It's understood the cost of the flights for 'Boxer' and his officials also increased significantly due to the rearranged itinerary.

"It's now going to involve eleven flights in the space of nine days - and you're talking to a man who hates flying!" 'Boxer' told the Westmeath Independent.

His visit to Australia is due to involve travel across the country in order to attend meetings and St Patrick's Day gatherings in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra between March 10 and March 19.

'Boxer' previously represented the Government on St Patrick's Day trips abroad to Kenya (2018), Poland and Czech Republic (2019), and Portugal (2025).

He acknowledged that some people dismiss these trips as 'junkets' - and that he would have had a similar view earlier in life - but that taking part in the meetings and discussions abroad had given him a different perspective.

"Now more than ever, with all that's happening in the world, we need to all play our part in terms of these trips," he said. "I know some people think they're junkets. Trust me, I thought the same. But when you go on them you understand (their importance) and I'm not just saying that because it's me that's going."

As the Minister with responsibility for flooding, he said he was looking forward to learning from his Australian counterparts about how they deal with the issue.

"I'm trying to look at building coordination centres (in Ireland) and, in Australia, theirs are the best in the world," he said.

"They've done this from a flooding perspective and from a fires perspective, so we've a number of meetings set up about that in different parts of Australia.

"We're also going to see how they deal with climate change because it affects them big-time with hot summers and fires, as well as with the flooding.

"That's something we can learn from and bring back. They have an early warning system over there, and various different ways of handling flooding, so it's about learning more about how they did it."

He said that he "wouldn't have minded" spending the St Patrick's period at home, but he feels there's important work to be done on the upcoming trip Down Under.

"I've had a very busy few months and with the Dáil not sitting next week I wouldn't mind being at home in the Longford/Westmeath constituency, because to be honest I haven't been in the constituency as much as I would have liked in the last number of months.

"I hope people understand that, because there are communities up and down the country (affected by flooding) and I believe that in the next number of weeks I'll be able to put plans in place to help a lot of these areas in relation to flood prevention.

"There are people who will be up in arms about the cost of (Government Ministers' trips abroad) and I can understand the frustration around that, but I'd also say that on these trips you're meeting and dialoguing with people, and now more than ever we need to do that because the uncertainty in the world at present is worrying," he concluded.