Taking sides: Dublin fundraiser unites Clinton and Obama supporters on Independence Day
PRESIDENT MARY McAleese has acknowledged the role of the United States in the economic “transformation of Ireland” and said both countries had remarkable resources available to face the tougher economic climate ahead.
Mrs McAleese was addressing the Independence Day lunch hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland in Dublin yesterday.
Noting the contribution Irish emigrants had made to the culture and economy of the US, she said the US had also played a prominent role in the “economic transformation of Ireland”.
“Some 470 US companies in Ireland employ almost 100,000 people in a range of high-end sectors and they have helped to seed-bed a successful native entrepreneurial culture, which is today returning the compliment.”
Irish investment in the US had increased tenfold in the last decade, making Ireland one of the 10 largest investors in that market. Irish companies in the US employ more than 80,000 people in more than 200 companies in 50 states.
Mrs McAleese said Ireland would look to its strengths, including membership of the EU and its position as a “key strategic location for forward-thinking US companies seeking to service the EU market and beyond”.
The President also cited as a strength our “very young, confident, flexible and well-educated population, our business-friendly environment and our ease and fluency in the global marketplace”.
Mrs McAleese noted that along with the rest of the world, including the US, Ireland was facing into a period of economic uncertainty.
“Other generations faced periods of economic uncertainty too. None of them faced them with the remarkable set of resources we have available to us – the problem-solving skills, the widespread education, the networks, the achievements and the confidence that are the strength and hope of this generation.”
Mrs McAleese also acknowledged the role of the US in the peace process in the North and said Ireland’s debt to the “massive cohort of friends”, including those who devised the American Ireland Fund, was “enormous”.
Mrs McAleese and 1,500 invited guests also attended a July 4th celebration hosted by US ambassador to Ireland Thomas C Foley at the US ambassador’s residence in Phoenix Park last night.
Members of the Defence Forces and the US Marine Corps took part in a joint flag presentation ceremony and Irish soprano Regina Nathan sang the American and Irish national anthems.
Education “key” to surviving downturn, says American Chamber of Commerce Ireland president Paul Rellis: page 16
US citizens Eileen O’Dubhghaill, Patricia Daly and Yvonne Kennedy, who live in Ireland, get help from Democratic Super Delegate Liv Gibbons while signing for US presidential vote registration at a fundraiser for Democratic nominee Barack Obama at the Guinness Sports Club in the Iveagh Grounds on Crumlin Road, Dublin.
Hillary Clinton supporters living in Ireland also turned out to show their support. “I think at this point it doesn’t matter who the nominee is – quite a few prominent Hillary supporters are here,” said Kate Fitzgerald, the chairwoman of Ireland’s Democrats Abroad and the event organiser.
That sentiment was echoed by Linda O’Shea-Farren, who co-hosted a €1,600-a-head Clinton fundraiser in her Dublin home last year. “Hillary Clinton has asked her supporters to back Obama and I would support the Democratic candidate.” – Adam Harvey