Q&A: Ireland’s Leo Varadkar on Brexit, Trump and Keeping Ireland ‘At the Center of the World’
Leo Varadkar is quite a few firsts rolled into one. At 38, he is his country’s youngest ever Taoiseach, or Prime Minister. He’s also the first from an ethnic minority background, and the first to have come out as gay. His appointment in June is symbolic of the shift in social values in the once staunchly Catholic country.
Click HERE to read more.
Anti-American countries get far more green cards than than the Irish do
By Niall O’Dowd
IrishCentral.com
The numbers from the annual diversity lottery visa are out and they make this Irishman’s blood boil. We’ve been had as a nation, as one of the founder countries who helped create this great republic.
What the 1965 immigration reform act has done for the Irish is made new Irish immigrants as scarce as hen’s teeth.
And yes I know, it was Senator Edward Kennedy who played the major role in drafting that law. He tried to reverse its anti-Irish outcome before he died, but it was too late.
Now comes just the latest example. Each year 50,000 US Green Cards are allocated among 35 countries who are disadvantaged by current immigration law.
Strong Sustained Economic Growth
* Fastest growing economy in Eurozone, 5th consecutive year of economic expansion.
* Broad based growth; Consumer spend +4.2%, construction +11% and exports +9.8%, all contributing positively to growth.
* Ireland ranks 6th of 63 countries benchmarked in the 2017
IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, up one place from last year.
* Ireland’s debt to GDP ratio (75%) is also on a firm downward trajectory below the Euro area (90%) and EU (85%) averages.
* Irish Government Debt has an A rating with all major rating agencies with stable to positive outlooks forecast.
Click HERE to listen to an interview with Sinead Ní Fhátharta, Enterprise and Employment Manager, covering Údarás na Gaeltachta trade mission to Philadelphia, which aired on RTE this month.
