Irish Embassy in Beijing hosting The Banshees of Inisherin screening

The Irish Embassy in Beijing, China is set to host a screening of Oscar nominated black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin today, to mark St Patrick's Day.

The event was organised to mark a visit from Environment Minister, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan. He has arrived in the Chinese capital to embark on high-level meetings on climate, according to TheJournal.ie.

Minister Ryan is among the contingent of Ministers travelling abroad to mark St Patrick’s Day, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar currently in Washington. The Dubliner is due to meet with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office tomorrow for the traditional shamrock handover ceremony.

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

Ryan has spent the last week visiting Shanghai and Hong Kong, and will attend a roundtable discussion on climate and energy policy today.

China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has been scaling up and introducing additional renewable energy sources to the grid. Despite this increase, the country continues to rely primarily on coal for their electricity generation.

Later this evening, Minister Ryan is slated to attend a reception at the Irish Embassy in Beijing, where there will be a screening of The Banshees of Inisherin.

At the tail end of the Irish Civil War in 1923, on the fictional Irish isle of Inisherin, folk musician Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) abruptly begins ignoring his lifelong friend and drinking buddy Pádraic Súilleabháin (played by Colin Farrell).

Unfortunately, despite a slew of Oscar nominations, Martin McDonagh's film came home empty handed last Sunday.

It’s expected that he will make a speech at the reception, with guests from the film industry due to attend. Ryan is also due to give a keynote speech to a group of students studying at Beijing Dublin International College (BDIC).