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Ireland ‘open for business’


A Clare TD will celebrate St Patrick’s Day Stateside after becoming the first chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee to be invited to the White House. Deputy Pat Breen will travel to the US for a programme of events to mark St Patrick’s Day. While there, he has promised, he will “relay the message that Ireland is open for business”.
“It is an honour to represent the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade at this year’s St Patrick’s Day reception in the White House,” Deputy Breen commented.
“Our national holiday, St Patrick’s Day, offers our country a unique opportunity to present itself on the world stage. While it is a time when people around the globe celebrate Ireland and what it means to be Irish, it also offers a chance to build relationships and strengthen bonds,” he added.
Deputy Breen stressed the value of the “enduring friendship” and “economic ties” between Ireland and the United States.
“There are now around 500 US companies operating in Ireland, including major firms such as Intel, Boston Scientific, Dell, Pfizer/Wyeth, IBM, CITI, Medtronic, Hewlett Packard and Abbot. It is estimated that more than 220 Irish companies are trading in the US. It is an amazing success story and is testament to the strong links built up over the years, which continue to be fostered by the various meetings and events which will be held in the US over St Patrick’s Weekend.
“In the US, as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, I will be using every opportunity to relay the message that Ireland is open for business and that now is the time to invest in Ireland,” he continued.
Among the business and trade meetings and events Deputy Breen will attend are the Enterprise Ireland Business Leaders’ Lunch, the Enterprise Ireland seminar on the energy sector and utilities and the Science Foundation Ireland/Wild Geese Network of Irish Scientists event. He will also attend the Irish-US Council lunch and will meet with Irish State economic agencies.
Deputy Breen will also represent the Irish Government at the Northern Ireland Bureau St Patrick’s Day breakfast on March 20, an event which will also be attended by First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
“We should remember the key role played by various US administrations in helping to broker peace in Northern Ireland,” he noted.
Outreach to the Irish community abroad is a priority of the Committee during 2012 according to Deputy Breen, who will also visit the Aisling Irish Community Centre in New York. “It is also an opportunity to raise the issue of the undocumented Irish and to build support for the idea of the Irish E-3 visa,” he concluded.

 

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