Nearly a decade after Canada and the European Union signed a comprehensive trade deal, Ireland’s Taoiseach, the equivalent to its Prime Minister, says his country will ratify the pact before the end of the year. Ireland is also planning a trade mission to Canada in the coming months.

Micheál Martin said that he had invited prime minister Mark Carney to visit Ireland officially, an invite which had been accepted, and the pair had agreed a scholarship in the name of General John de