But though he was in the Irish capital, the doings of his native capital city were not far from Rooney’s thoughts as among his first guests were members of the House of Representatives delegation that had spent the days leading up to the holiday meeting with political, business and community leaders in Dublin, Belfast and London.
The delegation was organized and led by Friends of Ireland chairman, Rep. Richard Neal from Massachusetts, but also included members from Rooney’s home state of Pennsylvania.
The Neal-led delegation covered a variety of issues in its various engagements but focused in particular on business and the economy, comprehensive immigration reform and the Northern Ireland peace process.
While in the North, the members met with leaders from both communities including representatives of loyalist groups.
In Dublin, a particular focus of the delegation was immigration reform and also the Obama administration’s plans to tax U.S. companies based overseas, not least Ireland, at the same levels that apply in the U.S. This is causing some concern in the Irish government which is worried about Ireland as an attractive place for U.S. companies to set up operations.
However, Rep. Neal, who chairs the Subcommittee on Select Measures for the House Ways and Means Committee, was able to deliver some reassuring words while in Dublin.
The Obama administration has focused particular attention on Ireland, the Netherlands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas for corporate tax purposes, but Neal said that Ireland did not fall in with some of these.
Ireland, he said, had a transparent corporate tax regime and was not “the Bahamas, or the Cayman Islands.”