On April 24, a delegation led by H.E. Chairman Sean O Fearghail, Chairman of the Lower House of Parliament, Ireland paid a visit to South China University of Agriculture. The welcoming meeting was held at the Hometown conference hall. President Chen Xiaoyang, Vice President Yang Zhou attended the meeting.

    On behalf of SCAU, President Chen extended a warm welcome to the guests. He mentioned that China and Ireland have boasted a long history of cooperation. The China-Ireland relation has thrived in recent years and we have seen more frequent exchanges in areas like economy and trade, education, science and technology, culture, which creates new opportunities for cooperation between the universities in two countries.

    SCAU and University College Dublin, Ireland have established great relations. Besides the ongoing Sino-foreign joint program already approved by the Ministry of Education, we are also working on the application for the Sino-foreign joint institution. The President hoped that the visit of Chairman Sean O Fearghail could foster the multi-layer cooperation on all fronts between SCAU and Irish universities and research institutions in areas of common interest like agriculture, horticulture, life sciences and animal sciences, which will benefit the students of both countries.

    Chairman O Fearghail thanked the President for his hospitality. He was glad that South China University of Agriculture was the first stop for his official visit. He reviewed the past cooperation between the two countries and said that the China-Ireland ties are moving further ahead and the Chinese government would import more quality beef from Ireland. He hoped that the two countries could strengthen their education cooperation. He was very happy to see the fruitful cooperation in joint education between SCAU and UCD and looking forward to promoting the cooperation to a higher level.  

    Vice President Yang has made a brief introduction to the university and laid emphasis on the ongoing cooperative projects between SCAU and UCD.

    Chairman O Fearghail also exchanged gift with President Chen.

    The delegation visited the History Museum of the University and had a group photo taken with the university leadership.

    The Irish delegation was joined by Mr. Frank Feighan, Member of the Upper House of Parliament; Ms.Fiona O’Loughlin, Member of Parliament; Mr. Martin Ferris, Member of Parliament; Ms. Catherine Martin, Member of Parliament; Mr. Peter Finnegan, Assistant Secretary General; Mr. John Hamilton, Head of Interparliamentary Relations and Travel; Mr. Brian Prunty, Private Secretary to Mr. O Fearghail and Mr.Thomas Bellew, First Secretary (Finance, Trade and Investment), Embassy of Ireland in China.

    The delegation was accompanied by Mr. Zhang Ping, Vice Chairman of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee, National People’s Congress and Mr. Zhang Xingjin, Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Standing Committee of Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress and other members.

    Representatives from the International Office, President’s Office, Graduate School, Office of Science and Technology, Academic Affairs Office, Office of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Horticulture, College of Life Sciences, College of Food Science and College of International Education also attended the meeting.