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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

The Celtic Comeback begins as President Clinton leads an Irish charge --Powerful Fortune 500 leaders show way forward for Irish economy

Posted on Friday, February 10, 2012 at 07:50 AM

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Bill Clinton pictured alongside Irish leaders yesterday in New York

Mark February 9th as the day the Celtic Comeback began.

That was the day in New York that former President Bill Clinton gathered the rich and powerful in American business and delivered them on a silver platter for the Irish government leaders including Prime Minister Enda Kenny and Foreign Minster Eamon Gilmore as well as Jobs Minister Richard Bruton.

Clinton was delivering on a commitment made in September when he attended the Irish Diaspora Economic Forum in Dublin and promised to pull out the stops in an effort to help out Ireland's foundering economy.

On Thursday he delivered, filling a meeting hall at New York University with 25 top executives eager to hear about investing in Ireland .

The president was eager to share his insights that Ireland, like the US, has one of the youngest demographics in the western world and that the educational level is among the highest. People are investing not just for the present but for the future he stated. Many companies were now looking overseas again and Ireland had to get on their radar.

Robert Rubin, his former Treasury Secretary, was there and made a valuable contribution.

Rubin stated he had not really studied the Irish situation until a few weeks ago but he believed the country was dealing with its problems in an admirable manner.

Also there were top executives from Merck, Dow Chemical, Bank of America.

The morning meeting on the 8th floor at NYU university bore the hallmarks of a well-rehearsed sales job.

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First up were CEO's from companies with operations in Ireland telling those thinking of investing there how well they had done.

Leading that charge was Donald Keough, the legendary former president of Coca Cola, who pioneered the multinational invasion in Ireland back in the 1970s.

When Keough talks people listen. These days he is Chairman of Allen and Company, the powerful investment bank, and no one does more to promote his beloved Ireland.

Wilbur Ross the billionaire investor and turnaround specialist seemingly believes in the Irish mission also, as he was vocal in his support of what the Irish government has done to combat the tide of negative news.

After the meeting the three Irish government leaders repaired down one flight of stairs to address 100 leaders in the Irish American community on the Irish economy.

There were joined by Clinton who offered a reprise of the remarks he had made upstairs.

Loretta Brennan Glucksman of the American Ireland Fund praised the IDA, the Irish industrial development agency for the amazing work they continued to do attracting jobs and also the government's emphasis on the importance of philanthropy.

Not coincidentally, IDA news of 485 new jobs in various parts of Ireland was made public on Thursday.

I asked the Irish leader and his colleagues what was the best advice they had heard and the most common criticism at their meeting.

Enda Kenny stated that telling the truth about the financial morass, not gilding the lily and telling it straight was the best advice and one he was adhering to.

Foreign Minister Gilmore stated that the most common criticism was not focusing enough on the skill of the workers themselves who got very high marks from the multinational leaders for their commitment to the job.

Kieran McLaughlin, CEO of the Ireland Funds, summed it up when he stated that what he was hearing was the beginning of what he called the "Celtic Comeback."

And not before time we all thought. Enough of the doom and gloom and more of the American can-do.

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kinvara7 | Feb 11, 2012, 01:43 PM EST

What about the story of Limerick natives Patrick (23) and John Collison (21) who moved into the top tier of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs yesterday after their company, Stripe, gained $17m in investment from one of the world's top venture capital firms and is now valued at $100m. Stripe aims to make it easier for small businesses to securely process credit card payments.

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kinvara7 | Feb 11, 2012, 01:43 PM EST

Here are some other good news stories over the last couple of weeks: Shire, the Irish pharmaceutical company said Thursday that sales of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment Adderall XR shot up 40 percent to $125 million, while sales of the ADHD drug Vyvanse rose 20 percent to $217 million. Sales of Elaprase, a treatment for the genetic disorder Hunter syndrome, rose 17 percent to $124 million. Waldner Ireland managing director Noel Hodgins, described Ireland as being "the pharmaceutical centre" of the world, as he opened a new interactive lab last month.

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kinvara7 | Feb 11, 2012, 01:41 PM EST

Niall: Your reply to youngIrelander is empty and condescending. To begin with it is clear that you missed the point in his message. What ever about scandals etc., will you at least take responsibility for the poor writing and journalism on this website? Or is the church and state behind that as well? It strikes me as ridiculous that an otherwise intelligent man can miss such a simple point: There are good 'messages' and you should act as the messenger for them too. Do you disagree with my point? A couple of months ago Ireland made a very exciting discovery in the Atlantic. Sophisticated Irish technology was used, new species were found and a part of our planet was named by Irishmen using the Irish language. However, this was whispered on IC (There weren't even pictures) instead a ten line list of nonsense was pushed to the fore; it was some lazy nonsense about Irish luck. The Atlantic story dissapeared into the archive while the lazy top ten list lingered on the mainpage for days. Talk about ignoring a good news story!

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ciaradexy | Feb 11, 2012, 12:16 PM EST

I can assure you that I do not speak in this manner however if my language gets a little more 'flowery' its usually during a debate with friends and is not around children or elderly people. Some of my friends do tend to swear a lot but again, its in certain company so it is not unwelcome. Irish 'ladies' as you put it are equal with irish men and so we dont expect to be treated any differently to men. We also dont expect people to act any differently around us regardless of their gender.

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gobdawpaddy | Feb 11, 2012, 12:04 PM EST

Ciara, I am not an American who is disgusted by the Irish and I do like them (I employ 117 of them and they do a very good job), but in general their limited vocabulary and lack of decorum as I mentioned in my earlier contribution does annoy me. I had a American female colleague with me in a 5 star hotel in Cork on Thursday evening and a group of three males at the bar demonstrated no decorum, they don't seem to know any better. Of course if one was to request them to tone it down, you would be told to 'f*** off, you f****n BX, ya C*** ye' and be in danger of getting a slap. One would expect that patrons in a hotel bar of the standard of the one we were in would know how to behave, but I guess not. Irish 'ladies' don't seem to mind, indeed their language is often as bad as their male friends. Of course I recall your former taoiseach being caught on an open microphone about 2 years ago using profanity to his tainaiste, Mary Coughlan. I guess I will just have to grit my teeth and attempt to shut it out. And before you tell me that I don't have to visit, I do, and my many Irish employeees are very happy that I do. We spend a lot of money when visiting and via our Irish operation, doing our little bit to help a nation that many of us have great affection for, managing to make a few USD in the process.

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ciaradexy | Feb 11, 2012, 10:15 AM EST

Well said Kinvara. I reckon Americans would learn more about Ireland and the Irish simply from seeing the most recent ad for Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport which was aired on tv and in the cinema rather than this website.

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kinvara7 | Feb 11, 2012, 09:48 AM EST

Niall: You have chosen to call your website Irish Central -not Irish America Central or Diaspora Central, but IRISH Central. You did this to capture as much of a following as possible and to plug into the general interest that exists around the world for all things Irish. If this and other American publications choose to profit from selling 'the Irish thing' then you have a duty towards the many decent, hardworking people in Ireland who have done so much to make the Irish identity so valued in the first place. What right have you to sell the identity that they have shaped, and at the same time ignore their success stories, simply because it doesn't appeal to your target audience? Instead you jump from one negative story to the next (because that's what people want to read isn't it Niall; thats what brings in the punters), and without any since of irony you criticise the sense of 'doom and gloom' in Ireland!

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ciaradexy | Feb 11, 2012, 08:53 AM EST

Gobdaw, thats just us and if you dont like the irish, then you really dont need to come to Ireland or mix with Irish people. You can stay in the US and live your life believing the thatched cottage nonsense thats peddled on this website or you can accept that Ireland is also in the 21st century. SirPete, Youngirelander and Kinvara are right. If the Irish disgust Americans so much then no one is holding gun to your head telling you to visit. Youre more than welcome to hang out with the Delta Crew all you want!

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gobdawpaddy | Feb 11, 2012, 06:17 AM EST

Once again an example of posters who can't seem to understand that this site is the home of 'Irish America' magazine and the New York based 'Irish Voice'. My perceived purpose of this site is it is to provide news and a forum for discussion, on items that might be of interest to Irish America, or as one Irish based poster referred to us as 'YE arrogant Irish American fu*ks'. This is a lovely 'contribution' on an article involving many Irish Americans and president Clinton, endevouring to help Ireland out of its current economic malaise. I can't understand why posters with such obvious intellectual capacity and superb command of the english language, don't stick to 'The Beano' website. Something that has irritated me for some time came up once again last night (I am currently visiting Ireland on business). I am fascinated at the limited vocabulary of people in Ireland, even in print as I made reference to above. Last night I had dinner at a hotel in Co. Clare. There was a Delta flight crew of seven at the table next to me. They remained there for about three hours and there wasn't a single utterance of the 'f' bomb, the 'c' word and no-one was a 'bx'. It was in stark contrast to the scenario in a Cork hotel the previous night where the 3 patrons next to my party, couldn't express a sentence without utilizing 2 out 3 of them. I have learned after many visits to 'turn a blind eye', acknowledging to myself that 'they don't know any better'.

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sirpeter | Feb 10, 2012, 11:51 PM EST

YoungIrelander.Good start.Nice piece.Kinvara7 is spot on.Neill is just giving we are only the messenger sh*t.It's a pity the messages are mostly sh*t.When you think about this small island.We have punched well about our weight.Lets be fair about it nobody in Ireland wants to be Irish American.I'm here in Ireland and happy.My roots are here for a thousand years.I love the trees and the mountains and lakes.The smell of the earth and the gentle rain.The passionate people and the superior wit.With all it's faults Ireland whispers you belong.

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sirpeter | Feb 10, 2012, 10:51 PM EST

RedBranch.You say this isn't a serious website.But I do.I don't mind our failings been aired.But no family or nation can be at harmony unless you point out our good points as well.IC has failed in this.It's staff writers have little understanding of the complexities of EVERY Irish event be it historic or current.I feel I'm defending myself as an Irishman the whole time on this site against Irish Americans.Irish people on this site living in Ireland will tell YE what Ireland is about.So shut the fu*k up.I have never once read a comment by an Irish born insult the Irish people like ye do.Ye arrogant Irish American fu*ks.Never forget Irish people will just as soon sever an Irish American head that over stepped the mark as anyone else.We are not for sale.No matter who puts up the for sale sign.

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sirpeter | Feb 10, 2012, 10:00 PM EST

Niall.While the thatched cottage postcard tourism image is what sells to your average sentimental Irish American.Tourism is an industry selling a product.That's all very well.But this site is not consistent in showing a modern sense who the Irish really are.Example:Ireland is the biggest exporter in computer technologies in the world.Ryanair is the seventh largest airline in the world.I can't be looking up what Irish people gave to the world.There is to much to list.But we didn't cause humankind much trouble but we gave a hell of a lot.Our leaders are poor and we can't seem to get rid of them. But as a Corkman and an Irishman we always had our priorities right in lots of ways.We didn't go to the moon or invent the wheel.But the Irish have saved civilization again with a little blue pill.We made millions happy.A man without a horn is not a man.This is a fact.A woman without a horn will be tempted to go elsewhere.We want to move on from the IRA.We want to move on from your drunken Irish related bulls*it.I'm not religious.But you are totally bias against the Catholic church.You publish the bad,but you dishonor the priests who have saved millions of children's life's.Even if a lot buggered them.Men bugger kids anyway in the priesthood or not.Neill as an Irishman the articles don't make me feel good because your staff writers don't have a real core deep understanding.Niall sometimes it's good to kill the messenger if the messenger has his own agenda.Everybody lies and everybody has there own agenda.YoungIrelander is perfectly right.Whose message is IC been the messenger for?

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sirpeter | Feb 10, 2012, 07:57 PM EST

kinvara7. Nice one.

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ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 06:22 PM EST

Niall, theres more to Ireland than tourism and Americans feelings towards the place.

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seanomelb | Feb 10, 2012, 05:59 PM EST

I commend youngIrelander on his entrepreeural skills(speaking as a retired business man).I fear your judgement is somewhat clouded and one hopes it will not "cloud" your entrepreneural skills.

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