The Taoiseach will be feted today in Dublin's twin of 20 years, San José, writes Mark Brennock
They take their Irish week seriously in San José. The 20th anniversary was marked last Saturday by a joint concert of the Dublin Youth Symphony Orchestra and the San José Youth Philharmonic; on Sunday by 12 bouts of amateur boxing between Ireland and California teams at the city's Civic Auditorium; and yesterday morning by a traditional Irish breakfast at the Silicon Valley Capital Club. Guests of honour were Dublin's Lord Mayor, Catherine Byrne, councillors Maurice Ahern and Anne Carter, along with representatives of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Dublin Tourism and TCD.
Bertie Ahern was Lord Mayor of Dublin when the two cities were first twinned. When one thinks of twinning cities, one thinks of trips - even junkets perhaps - for councillors. For the past 20 years there has indeed been an annual trip for a few councillors to San José. It has typically taken in a few meetings with civic and business figures - often over breakfast, lunch or dinner - as well as a visit to the adjacent Californian wine country. Over the past two decades, many Dublin councillors have got to know the way to San José.
But the San José link has turned out to be very useful. Twenty years ago the fact that this city is the capital of the Silicon Valley computer belt was in the minds of the Dublin authorities. Nobody could have known then just how big US high-tech investment in Ireland was going to be.
Today the Taoiseach will meet Mark Hurd, the CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP) which is headquartered here. HP already employs over 4,000 people in Leixlip. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Hewlett Packard Financial Services, last week announced it would centralise its European headquarters in Leixlip, increasing its employment numbers from 240 to 360.
Mr Ahern will also bump into other senior figures from US companies investing in Ireland when he attends tonight's dinner. Announcements concerning expansion plans of one or more of these companies are expected today.
The twinning of Irish cities with those far away brings prospects for long-haul travel for councillors, and raises cynical eyebrows in Ireland. But San José's councillors have made regular return visits too, and have sometimes brought useful business leaders with them to see the prospects in Ireland.
The Taoiseach will attend the black-tie Spirit of Ireland Award Dinner tonight. The recipient of the award has so far been kept secret but it is unlikely to be the Taoiseach himself - he has already won it, several years ago. Other recipients have been John Hume, Bill Clinton, Mary Harney and Tom McEnery, who was mayor of San José at the same time as Mr Ahern was Dublin's Lord Mayor.
Technology industries have been good to San José, as they are now good for Ireland. This is now the third most populated city in California, behind Los Angeles and San Diego - it overtook San Francisco in 1989. San José households have the highest disposable incomes of any large US city. They also endure one of the highest costs of living.
The three Dublin universities - TCD, UCD and DCU - have close relationships with San José state universities, Santa Clara University and Stanford University. Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin is twinned with Trinity Cathedral in San José.
Mr Ahern's visit here is a prelude to the politically more significant visit to Washington later this week for St Patrick's Day. But it recognises the importance of political contact with major US investors in Ireland. Just last weekend the chairman of Intel, Craig Barrett, warned that companies such as his, which employs 5,300 people in Ireland, could disinvest as quickly as they invested if costs in Ireland were to rise.
The Taoiseach is expected to offer reassurance on this score.