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Taoiseach Addresses the City Club of Cleveland Lunch

Taoiseach Enda Kenny addressed the City Club of Cleveland Lunch yesterday.

The Taoiseach's visit to Cleveland is part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to drive economic recovery and employment, by delivering the message to international business people and investors, and to the diaspora, that Ireland is open for business.

Speaking at the lunch, the Taoiseach said:

(We have taken) several crucial decisions which we are now in the process of implementing. We adopted a ‘Compact for Growth and Jobs’. In effect, this aims at completing the Single Market project that has created so many economic opportunities for Irish and European businesses. Taking this work forward will be a priority area for us when we assume the Presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers in the first half of next year.

For Ireland, trade is a crucial engine of growth. Developing relations with the Union’s key strategic partners, including the United States, is another key priority. Transatlantic trade and investment – in both directions – constitutes the largest economic relationship in the world. The link is vital to both the European and American economies, especially given the crucial importance to both of us of growth and recovery.

I strongly believe that agreement on a comprehensive trade agreement between the United States and the European Union would take this relationship to a new level. I will be aiming to make as much progress as possible towards this goal in the period ahead.

Read the full speech here.