The Syrian crisis topped the agenda during the meeting between visiting Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny and Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah on Sunday.

The Irish Prime Minister arrived in Riyadh on Saturday night for talks with Saudi counterparts to bolster bilateral ties and will stay here until Monday.

Speaking to Arab News after the meeting, Niall Holohan, Irish ambassador in Riyadh, said: “The two leaders discussed the roadmap on how to bring peace in Syria, besides discussing the bilateral relations between the two countries, which are excellent.”

He said the Irish PM accompanied by his delegation also visited the Ministry of Higher Education, where they were received by Minister of Higher Education Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Anqari.

“During the meeting, they discussed cooperation in higher education and Saudi students going to the country for study under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program,” the ambassador said.

He said there were more than 2,000 students studying in Ireland currently under the scholarship program.

“We will be happy to see this number increase over the next few years as we want more Saudi students to come to Ireland,” he said.

The ambassador said that Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), received Kenny and his delegation and discussed co-operation in financial service structure to facilitate further cooperation between the Kingdom and Ireland.

According to Holohan, the visiting premier explained the steps to reach economic recovery and ways of strengthening developmental and economic plans to bolster ties between the two countries by enhancing cooperation.

The Irish PM on his three-day visit is accompanied by representatives from around 50 companies and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, who earlier met Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, and discussed bilateral cooperation in the implementation of provisions of consulting trade services, the ambassador said.

They also exchanged ideas on various trade aspects for cooperation among them to boost bilateral trade and commerce. A joint business council meeting would be held on Monday at the Council of Saudi Chambers to further strengthen trade and commerce between the two countries.

The visit also aims at promoting Irish goods and services in the Kingdom and tourism in Ireland, a popular tourist destination.

The Irish ambassador earlier emphasized the development of trade exchange between the Kingdom and his country and underlined that the two countries had recorded an increase in the volume of bilateral exports, as well as imports.

He observed that bilateral relations between the Kingdom and Ireland had witnessed a big leap on political, economic and educational fronts due to extensive mutual visits by officials on both sides.

The Irish premier will meet Crown Prince Salman for talks to boost bilateral ties on Monday.