Ladies and Gentlemen, A cháirde Gael,
It is a great pleasure to be back in New York and to join so many friends of Ireland here this evening. I was delighted to be met on arrival by my good friend Tom Moran, Chairman, President and CEO of Mutual of America, our host this evening.
Tom is an exceptional man who has remained highly engaged with and committed to the Ireland-US relationship while still managing to hold down a pretty important day job. Tom, we probably don’t tell you often enough but we are hugely proud of your achievements as a man who traces his roots back to Tipperary and Fermanagh, and grateful that you devote so much of your energy, skill and expertise to enhancing Ireland’s cause.
You have followed the wonderful example set by our good friend Bill Flynn, whose very special contribution to Ireland I would also like to acknowledge this evening.
I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the role that the Irish Business Organisation of New York has played since it was set up in 1973 to bring together Irish and Irish American business people. I commend the IBO Board and members and assure you that we greatly appreciate and value your work and we look forward to a very successful period under the leadership of Sheila who hails from my own county of Mayo, as some of you might have gathered!
At this challenging time for both Ireland and America, groups like the Irish Business Organisation and others in this city and across the United States play an increasingly important role in connecting business people to one another, and I am convinced that the coming period will be one where we will achieve even more together to promote our mutual business interests.
I am grateful to the IBO for this evening’s opportunity to brief you directly on the steps which my Government and the Irish people are taking to address the unprecedented challenges we are facing.
Since entering Government, we have worked night and day to address these challenges and I am pleased to report that we have made some real progress in delivering on our commitments, in spite of the continuing instability in the global economy.
Most importantly, we have met all of our targets for the first four quarterly reviews under our Programme of Assistance. We have succeeded in securing a reduction in the cost of the EU funding to Ireland. We have got the public finances back on target. We have also restructured the Irish banking system and attracted new private investment. Our banks have also successfully re-entered the market and raised funding late last year at the height of the recent crisis.
At the same time, we are very encouraged that the Irish economic performance has been strong, powered by our competitive export sector.
Tomorrow I will join a special investment roundtable, hosted by President Clinton, which will give me an opportunity to set out our competitive advantages. Our indigenous companies are continuing to forge new markets for their products and at the same time the US and multinational companies with operations in Ireland are reporting excellent results. Last year, as many of you will be aware, was a standout year for investment in Ireland, with 148 greenfield projects secured. So the international community has given Ireland a real vote of confidence to bounce back from the difficult place in which we found ourselves.
Similarly, the performance of our tourism sector has been excellent with strong growth last year, including in terms of American and Irish-American tourists. We are very confident looking ahead for the tourism sector as we improve our product offering and offer even better value for our visitors. I am looking forward to welcoming Notre Dame to Dublin in September.
In summary, we have made some good progress on addressing the fundamental challenges facing the Irish economy. We believe that the pillars of our economic success remain sound and that there is tremendous scope to build on the achievements in our export, inward investment and tourism sectors. We need to translate this into the creation of new jobs and the Government’s strategy is also to protect as many existing jobs as possible.
Some things are no doubt beyond our control. As ours is one of the world’s most open economies, it is very important to us that the global economy, particularly in the EU and the US returns to growth. We cannot control the fate of the global economy but we can get our own house in order and ensure that Ireland is the best small country in which to do business. We are working towards this and need your help to achieve it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are very proud of the unique relationship between generations of Irish emigrants and this great city, which so many of them helped to build and shape whether in public life or in business. There is not a single aspect of New York that has not been touched by the Irish just as there is a New York story amongst almost every Irish family, wherever they are from on the island of Ireland. This is one reason why our New York St Patrick’s Day Parade is so important. It is now a global event which celebrates our heritage, our culture and is a showcase for the connections which our small island shares with New York.
I know that each year as soon as the parade finishes, the planning commences for the following year and that the parade is only possible due to the devotion and commitment of John Dunleavy, John Leahy and the numerous volunteers involved.
In selecting Frank Comerford as Grand Marshal for the 2012 parade – the 251st New York Parade – the Committee had a difficult task in nominating a successor to our dear friend Mary Higgins Clark.
Having heard Frank’s story this evening and learning about his exceptional record to his community including with many worthy causes, I can understand now why he has not only been designated as a “Favorite Son of Brooklyn” but even had a day named after him in November 2002. Frank is a great choice as Grand Marshal and I wish him and his family well for this wonderful honour of leading the 251st St Patrick’s Day Parade when the eyes of the world and Brooklyn and Kilkenny in particular will be on New York.
Friends, I firmly believe that working together we can build a better and more secure economic future for both Ireland and the United States. Once again, thanks to the Irish Business Organisation and Mutual of America for giving me this opportunity to reach out to so many good friends of Ireland as we look to build on the unique relationship between our two great countries.