February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Last Friday’s Seattle Times recapped her three-day visit to Seattle, Washington and lauded the president as Ireland’s best sales representative.
“McAleese is a powerful spokesperson for the role of education in redeeming a recumbent economy and self-absorbed culture from generations of stagnation.”
“The underlying message of this top-level delegation and the energy of McAleese’s presentation was simply, game on. Ireland plays at the championship level,” marveled the paper’s editorial board.
During her time in Seattle, the president strongly advocated further expansion of the European Union in her address to the World Affairs Council at the University of Washington.
She told the audience that Ireland’s phenomenal transformation from rags to riches compelled the country to support for other nations wishing to have the same opportunity.
“It would strike me as a very immoral thing to do to want to shut the door behind you and exclude others,” she said.
She recollected what little prospects Ireland seemed to have when the country initially entered the EU.
“Many members of the then European Union must have wondered what on earth they were doing at letting this pathetic basket case of a country in. We entered the European Union as a very poor country, we were no great shakes”
During the trip, McAleese was asked about her feelings about Ireland’s plans to vote on the new EU constitution, just rejected by French voters. She said it would be inappropriate to discuss the matter and that it was purely up to the Irish electorate ratify or deny the constitution.
The president reached out to many of the best and brightest Irish university graduates who have found jobs at such firms as Microsoft, Amazon.com, and Expedia.com who all of which are based in the Seattle area.
She told those professionals to consider returning home where hi-tech jobs are bountiful.
Several Irish software firms, including Arantech and Arconics, have now announced that the trade mission provided substantial funding and expansion of their own satellite offices into the U.S. market.
Michael Ahern TD, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, led a part of the delegation on a tour of the mammoth Boeing aircraft plant and watched as 737’s were assembled. Boeing officials said that Irish low cost airline Ryan Air is now one of its best customers.
On Thursday, President McAleese, accompanied by her husband, Dr. Martin McAleese, and the rest of the delegation, departed Seattle for British Columbia.
It was announced in tandem with the visit thatCanada will donate two million (Canadian) dollars to the International fund for Fund, a substantial increase from its previous level of $333,000(Canadian).
Representatives of more than two dozen Irish businesses accompanied the president, and several struck major deals bringing millions of dollars, both U.S. and Canadian, back to Ireland in investment support.
A Limerick based company, Galty Technologies, worked deals in Seattle with U.S. cell phone service provider, Cingular. Galty software is used on Blackberry devices and allow users to wirelessly print, view and send email.
Galty’s Managing Director, Mr. Kieran O’Farrell said President McAleese’s role as the leader of the trade mission to Vancouver was indispensable.
“We are meeting with Blackberry and hope to have our applications bundled into the software programs,” he said.
The Dublin based firm, Changingworlds, announced during the trade mission that it would open a San Francisco office following the success of the trade mission. Changingworlds’ applications modify mobile phone web browsers to provide more efficient usage of such search engines as Google.