Mr. Jamie Drummond:

I would say that every nation's voice is quavering at the moment as a result of the threat of populism and fears about a form of globalisation that is running rampant and is patently unfair to many. We need to work together to reform many of the institutions of the global financial architecture and taxation systems; they must be reformed. That is the job of political leadership, civil society, the private sector and a good informed media debate over the next generation.

Within that, Ireland's voice has been quavering in the past decade. It is being heard more strongly now than it has been for a while. That is partly because of the economy doing a bit better and partly because of people paying attention to political developments within this country and being fascinated by them. There is evidence that the best of the old Ireland is being added to by something new and interesting, which is a global island that is very open in terms of ideas, its economy and its mind. Ireland can be an extraordinary voice for what I would call a radical variety of centrism that takes voices from the left and the right, but figures out what is pragmatically correct and then gets those that are its neighbours and that, perhaps, in some ways have broader shoulders - on both sides of the Atlantic - to do better things.

The Irish might know the director of the OMB because he is from Ireland's diaspora. Ireland might have particular sway over European processes as it does right now for various different reasons. This position of Ireland as a global island speaking boldly on the international stage will keep attracting attention and investment to this place. I encourage Ireland to use that voice more.