Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 20, inclusive, together.

St. Patrick's Day has become a truly global festival, which presents us with an unparalleled opportunity to engage with political decision makers to advance Irish causes and advocate on their behalf and to focus on our number one priority of job creation by promoting Ireland as a preferred partner for trade and investment, as the home of world-leading products, services and companies and as a high-quality destination for tourists and international students.

This year, my visit to the United States encompassed Atlanta, Austin and Washington DC, with a programme focused on engagement with political leaders at national, state and city level, trade and investment events and company meetings as well as events for the Irish community and friends of Ireland across the US. My principal focus was to highlight Ireland's economic recovery and to enhance our bilateral trade and investment links in order to boost job creation in Ireland. I also took every opportunity to press publicly and privately the case for immigration reform and to advocate for the undocumented Irish not just in meetings with the Administration and the congressional leadership, but with political figures at all levels throughout my visit. On this occasion, my programme did not permit meetings with the groups which lobby incessantly on behalf of the undocumented, although the Government remains in ongoing close contact with them through our embassy and through our consulates in the US.

My programme began in Atlanta, Georgia, where my engagements included a number of business-focused events, including at the Irish chamber of commerce in Atlanta, where I delivered a keynote address on Ireland's economic recovery, and a round-table engagement with IDA Ireland client companies and potential investors from the Atlanta region. I also held meetings with companies, including Coca-Cola, which is a major investor throughout Ireland, and Oldcastle, which is the largest Irish-owned company in the United States.

I had a range of engagements with senior political figures, including the Governor of Georgia, Mr. Nathan Deal, and the mayor of Atlanta, Mr. Kasim Reed. I also had the opportunity to engage with both Senators from the state of Georgia, Mr. Johnny Isakson and Mr. David Perdue. Our discussions covered business links between Georgia and Ireland, immigration reform and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP. I might say that the appointment of a consulate there was really worthwhile in the sense of making arrangements for contacts, with political personnel from here meeting business personnel and politicians from that area.

I had the opportunity to engage with the wider Irish community as well as a number of influential friends of Ireland at a range of other events. These included the St. Patrick's Day dignitaries breakfast, which took place before the Atlanta parade which I attended as grand marshal, the Irish consul general's St. Patrick's Day reception, a meeting with the Atlanta-based members of the Global Irish Network and a traditional Irish community event at Atlanta City Hall dedicated to Fr. O'Reilly, an Irish priest who was responsible for saving city hall, five churches and 400 homes from being burned down during the American Civil War. I also undertook a number of US and international media engagements, including with CNN International, to highlight the message of Ireland's economic recovery.

I travelled from there to Austin, Texas, where my engagements included officially opening the new Ireland house in Austin, which will house our new Consulate General in the city, as well as the Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland offices. Ireland is the first European country to open a consulate in the city, which is America's fastest growing city and has become a major technology hub. I participated in a range of events at South by Southwest Interactive, which has become one of the world's largest technology festivals. I visited the Enterprise Ireland stand, where I met with a number of innovative Irish technology companies, and also spoke at an Enterprise Ireland event focused on enhancing links between the Irish startups and venture capital funds. I participated in a keynote public interview focused on Ireland's strengths as a global technology hub. I also addressed an audience of current and potential investors in Ireland at an event organised by IDA Ireland and I met with senior executives of Dell, which is based in Texas. At political level, I met with the Governor of Texas, Mr. Greg Abbott, where our discussions focused on enhancing the trade and investment relationship between Ireland and Texas as well as immigration reform.

My programme in Washington was primarily focused on high level political engagement and business promotion. My bilateral meeting with President Obama at the White House was positive and wide ranging.

We discussed Ireland's economic recovery and developments within the European Union and the eurozone. We had a useful exchange on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and agreed on the benefits of concluding an ambitious agreement as soon as possible. While we did not discuss any specific cases, we did discuss the situation in Northern Ireland at that time and the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement. The US Administration continues to be a crucial partner in the peace process and is fully familiar with the key issues. I thanked President Obama and Vice President Biden for their personal engagement and for the work of Senator Gary Hart in Northern Ireland. I thanked the President for his efforts on immigration reform and stressed our continued determination to make progress on behalf of the undocumented Irish. We discussed a range of international issues including the Ukraine crisis, the Ebola outbreak, the threat posed by ISIS and the prospects for both the Middle East peace process and the non-proliferation treaty. On this occasion, we did not specifically discuss the issue of refugees displaced by conflicts in the Middle East.

I attended the traditional breakfast hosted by the Vice President, Joe Biden, and the lunch hosted by the Speaker, Mr. John Boehner. I also held meetings with a number of other congressional leaders including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Pat Leahy and a number of other senior figures including the Congressional Friends of Ireland group. In each of these engagements I emphasised the importance we attach to addressing the plight of the undocumented Irish and I urged all sides to work towards achieving immigration reform. I also raised this issue with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, during his visit to Ireland on 2 July. As recently as last week, the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, engaged with congressional contacts on these issues during his visit to Washington DC.

I had a number of business-focused engagements, including a high level roundtable organised by the US Chamber of Commerce and a business leaders lunch organised by our enterprise promotion agencies. I addressed a Science Foundation Ireland event to announce new industry-academic partnerships and to honour prominent Irish and Irish-American scientists. I addressed the American Ireland Fund gala dinner, which gathered contributors to the fund and key members of the Irish-American community. In addition to talking about Ireland's economic recovery, I paid tribute to the important work of the fund in contributing to peace and reconciliation on this island. I was pleased to have the opportunity to launch the Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts and Culture event, which will take place next year at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and will form a centrepiece of our global commemorations of the 1916 Rising.

Overall, my visit to the United States in March was extremely positive. There was an extraordinary level of interest in Ireland's improving economic recovery, as well as tremendous confidence and optimism about the potential for further job creation and for further trade, investment and tourism.

See this speech in context