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Minister Burton promoting Irish trade, investment, tourism and culture in New York and Washington

The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton T.D., is travelling to New York and Washington to carry out an intensive round of engagements to promote Ireland as a leading trade and tourist destination. The visit, part of the Government’s St Patrick’s Day ‘Promote Ireland’ programme, will see Minister Burton undertake a number of economic, cultural and community engagements.

Speaking about her visit, Minister Burton said: “Forbes magazine recently declared Ireland to be the best place in the world in which to do business and I will be driving home that message while in New York and Washington. We have successfully exited the EU-IMF bailout programme, export levels are higher than before the crisis, jobs are being created in significant numbers and unemployment is falling steadily.  Whether in terms of investment, trade or tourism, the United States is a key partner for Ireland.  Last year saw strong performances in each of these areas and the Government will utilise the ‘Promote Ireland’ programme to build on that success and further drive the economic recovery.”

Speaking directly to the Irish-American community, the Minister said: “You have been a hugely important part of Ireland’s comeback story and will be crucial to Ireland’s future success. We value enormously our global Irish community, and the work of the Irish abroad as advocates for Ireland – encouraging people to holiday in Ireland, to join Irish business networks, to buy Irish products or to invest or do business in Ireland.”

Minister Burton’s New York engagements will include a visit to Ireland Day at the New York Stock Exchange where she will participate in a panel discussion on ‘Investing in Ireland’.  It is expected that the event will involve more than 200 executives from leading international firms, including Fortune 500 companies, venture capital firms, entrepreneurial start-ups, and financial and life sciences organisations from the US, Ireland and around the world.

The Minister will also attend the Garda Jerry McCabe Scholarship reception, an annual benefit for the fellowship exchange programme with the Garda Síochána, established with the support of former Ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy-Smith. The McCabe Fellowship Programme commemorates the life and career of Detective Garda McCabe by facilitating the regular exchange of police officers from An Garda Síochána and from the New York area. 

Minister Burton will attend the Irish America Magazine Hall of Fame Awards lunch, the Irish Arts Center Celtic Appalachia concert at Symphony Space and she will meet with staff from a number of Immigration and Welfare Centres and members of the Irish community who avail of their services.

While in Washington, Minister Burton will undertake a series of meetings with experts from the International Monetary Fund and leading economic think-tanks, as well as visiting a youth employment project and meeting with political, civic and business leaders.