Consul General's Op Ed in the Austin Statesman, 11 July

 

Adler Visit to Dublin Highlights Austin-Ireland Relationship
Austin Statesman, July 11, 2015

I was delighted to welcome Mayor Steve Adler to Dublin, Ireland, earlier this week. He became the first serving mayor of Austin to visit my home city.

The mayor’s program included meetings with members of the Irish government, Dublin’s new lord mayor, business representatives, and cultural and sporting organizations.
Relations between Ireland and Austin have deepened significantly since the establishment of Ireland’s new consulate in Austin in March.

Speaking at the opening of the consulate, Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny recalled the key role that the Irish have played in Austin’s history and development. Jimmy Deenihan, Ireland’s government minister for diaspora, visited Austin two weeks ago and met with the city’s active Irish cultural and business groups, and with Irish citizens who continue to contribute to Austin’s growth today.

Ireland’s future — like Austin’s — is promising.

Ireland is likely to retain its 2014 ranking as Europe’s fastest-growing economy in 2015, driven by increased exports of software, semiconductors, medical technology and pharmaceuticals.
And Ireland has become a strategic base for some of the world’s largest and most successful technology companies attracted by the country’s young, educated and skilled workforce, its low business taxes and its access to the European Union internal market.

Dublin and Austin also are great locations for smaller firms, tech entrepreneurs, innovators and startups.

The Dublin Gravity Center, which Adler visited Tuesday, and Austin’s Capital Factory recently entered a partnership to support new Irish and Austin companies expanding on both sides of the Atlantic.

Adler also met this week with Niamh Bushnell — Dublin’s new startup commissioner — and discussed further areas of collaboration between Austin and Dublin.

Dublin is home to the renowned Web Summit, and Ireland continues to be a major participant at the South by Southwest music and interactive festivals and conferences.

Ireland House Austin, on the corner of Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, brings together the consulate and offices of the Irish Industrial Development Authority and Enterprise Ireland, which also organized a series of meetings during the mayor’s visit to promote further Irish investment in Austin and investment by Central Texan firms in Ireland.

Ireland, like Austin, is also an international center for creativity and innovation.

During his visit to Trinity College Dublin, Adler viewed one of Ireland’s most beautiful treasures, the ninth-century Book of Kells, before visiting the university’s cutting-edge Science Gallery.
Building on the mayor’s visit, the consulate in Austin looks forward to developing further initiatives between Austin universities and Irish colleges.

Enduring relationships are also built on personal interaction.

During my first few months serving as Irish consul to Texas, I have greatly enjoyed addressing the Austin City Council and meeting high school and college students and other Austinites to talk about Ireland and the Ireland-Austin relationship.

And you don’t have to be Irish or even know anything about Ireland’s unique sports to join Austin’s fast-growing Celtic Cowboys sports club, which welcomes members from across the community to enjoy Irish hurling and Gaelic football.

While in Dublin, Adler practiced hitting a few sliotars (balls) at Croke Park, Ireland’s largest sports stadium, ahead of the visit to Austin in December of Ireland’s top hurling team — the GAA All Stars.

The mayor’s visit also coincided with a concert in Dublin by Austin’s wonderful SoCo Women’s Chorus.

And Irish artists including Hozier will be making the return trip to perform at this year’s Austin City Limits Festival.

The establishment of Ireland House Austin three months ago demonstrates the value and importance that Ireland attaches to its relations with Austin; the Austin Consulate is only Ireland’s sixth in the United States and is the first European consulate in the state capital.

Adler’s successful first visit to Dublin this week and recent visits by members of the Irish government to Austin are the latest chapters in a long and great history between Ireland and Austin. And I believe we have a great deal more to look forward to over the coming period.