Written answers

Tuesday, 28 March 2006

Department of An Taoiseach

Official Engagements

11:00 pm

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 126: To ask the Taoiseach his itinerary during his recent trip to America, including details of all the people and groups he met and the topics of discussion at each meeting or event. [11710/06]

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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On the occasion of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations, I fulfilled a number of engagements in San Jose, California, and in Washington. In the course of my various engagements, I focused on three key themes — the progress made in the peace process in the past year and our clear determination to resolve the outstanding issues this year, the plight of the undocumented Irish and the positive story of the success of modern Ireland. I spoke of what we believe is the "Irish Advantage", a theme which was also articulated by Ministers in many other engagements throughout the world during the St. Patrick's Day period.

I met Mr. Mark Hurd, CEO, Hewlett-Packard, at the company headquarters in Palo Alto. Hewlett Packard is a significant multinational company and a major investor and employer in Ireland. I met Enterprise Ireland clients and IDA guests when I attended the Enterprise Ireland reception in San Jose. A number of announcements were made, including Lotus Automation acquisitions, Scandata partnership with O'Neil Software, Innerworkings and the Interactive Services deal with Comcast. I also attended the Spirit of Ireland dinner in San Jose. My speech focused on the sister city relationship between San Jose and Dublin and the links between San Jose and Ireland. Ireland's contribution to Silicon Valley and the continued strength of the Irish economy were topics that were also mentioned.

I attended the Irish ambassador's St. Patrick's Day reception in Washington on 15 March. I met the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, ILIR, on the margins of the reception. We discussed our mutual desire to see a successful resolution to the situation for all the undocumented Irish currently living in the United States.

During my visit to Capitol Hill on 16 March, I met a number of Senators, including John McCain, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Edward Kennedy, Chris Dodd and Patrick Leahy. I also met a delegation from the Friends of Ireland, led by Congressman Jim Walsh.

At all of these meetings, we discussed the significant progress made in the peace process since March 2005. I also outlined the Government's views on the proposed immigration reform and the need to address the issues of the undocumented Irish in the US. I also raised the Pat Finucane case. On the same day, I attended the Speaker's lunch, which was hosted by Speaker Denis Hastert and was also attended by President Bush.

While I was in Washington I had the opportunity to meet the Ireland-US Economic Advisory Board. We discussed the Northern Ireland situation, the continuing success of the Irish economy, the future opportunities and challenges for Ireland and business prospects in the United States and internationally. I attended the American-Ireland Fund, AIF, national gala on 16 March in the National Building Museum, Washington, where I was the guest speaker.

On 17 March, I attended the traditional St. Patrick's Day ceremony at the White House and presented the bowl of shamrock to President Bush. This traditional ceremony marks the strong relationship between the US and Ireland. I also had a bilateral meeting with President Bush in the Oval Office. We discussed the peace process, the Pat Finucane case, Irish-US relations, immigration reform and the undocumented Irish and a range of international issues. In the course of various functions in Washington, I had the opportunity to meet the Northern Ireland Secretary of State and Northern political leaders.

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