When Cynthia Barile, a PhD student from Galway, Ireland, booked her trip to Cape Town, South Africa for a conference, she witnessed the "incredible" birth of a mother southern right whale to a healthy calf.
Ireland may geographically be closer to Britain, but politically, with Brexit, and the UK becoming a ‘third country outside the EU, France is now the Republic’s closest neighbour - a relationship the French are keen to develop and deepen.