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‘Stability’ a watchword at US-Ireland event amid Varadkar bombshell

Business leaders at pains to soothe anxieties about next election

Simon Coveney was unable to address the conference due to Varadkar's big announcement. Photograph: Alan Betson

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Thu Mar 21 2024 - 06:00

A funny thing happened to Simon Coveney on his way to Croke Park on Wednesday morning.

Billed to open the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland (AmCham) global business conference with a keynote address at 9am, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment found himself having to send his apologies to the event’s organisers not long before kick-off. It was probably the first hint that something was brewing behind the scenes at Government Buildings before Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s big announcement.

As rumours and eventually news reports began to trickle out, attendees were chewing over the details of presentations about the Republic’s commercial relationship to the US as a destination for top American companies and also a source of investment for the world’s largest economy.

Stability, both political and economic, was a key theme. The importance of the State’s “stability”, said AmCham president Elaine Murphy, was something that “really stood out” from conversations she had with US companies over the St Patrick’s Day weekend. “Stability and certainty” were key elements of Ireland’s image abroad, IDA Ireland chief executive Michael Lohan told his audience. “Notwithstanding this morning’s announcement,” said IDA chairman Feargal O’Rourke, “Ireland is seen as politically stable and economically stable.”

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Varadkar’s decision will hardly be taken as a particular sign of Irish instability or uncertainty among the US business elite. That goes without saying. But it is true that the next election cycle is an important and potentially disruptive or historic one, depending on your perspective.

At the very least, Wednesday’s announcement was a reminder that decision time for the Irish public is fast approaching. Against this backdrop, Ireland’s business leaders, mandarins and even Sinn Féin itself are at pains to soothe any anxieties that foreign companies may have about the prospect of a government led by a party that is not Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil.

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