Introduction
We meet in shocked and uncertain times.
The city of Paris and the European family is in mourning. You have come here to Dublin another capital for this Global Irish Economic Forum.
We welcome you, will keep you safe and are delighted to have you with us.
James Joyce was perhaps our most famous Dubliner who made Paris his home for such a long time. He loved to take long walks along the Seine and its lights with another Dubliner Samuel Beckett.
Joyce said that when he died Dublin would be written in his heart.
I hope on your short visit with us our city and people will write themselves into yours.
Today so many of you are coming home. Home to where ‘your people’ are from. They left these shores in search of a new life in a new world.
But in their heads so many of them walked the boreens, the fields in the long nights, in the great manmade canyons at the other side of the Atlantic.
They kept Ireland alive for their children, their grandchildren, all the generations so many of you among them today.
Our Diaspora - our family - our own.
2016 Commemorations
You are joining us here as we approach 2016. It is a historic year marking an historic event. We will honour the courage, dignity and ideals that characterised the events and people of 1916.
We will also remember and reflect on the full richness of our history and the diversity of people and events that help make us who we are today.
As a State, we will do this with all generosity, dignity, respect and inclusivity.
2016 will belong to everyone on this island and to you our friends and families overseas.
It will belong to you regardless of political or family history simply because of who you are - you are part of our story.
Through the Diaspora strand of the programme, we will share the commemoration of this historic period with all of you around the world.
You will have the opportunity to share the details of these plans and to give us your thoughts on them throughout these two days.
Northern Ireland
2016 also gives us the chance to imagine the future, in ways that strengthen the peace and reconciliation that we have achieved – so slowly and painstakingly on this island.
This week we have achieved an important agreement in Northern Ireland that secures the way forward for efficient, effective and representative devolved institutions in the North, working for the common good on a sustainable basis.
Sustainable growth
In gathering here today, we reflect on how far we have come in such a short time, but also how far this country has yet to go - there is so much talent and potential in this little country.
It’s been with your collaboration, advice and support that some of our greatest initiatives have come to fruition since our first meeting.
‘The Gathering’ started right here. In 2013, Ireland had a record year for visitors. Over a million alone from North America - that’s growth close to 14 per cent.
The Gathering was proof positive of the valuable contribution that the Global Irish Economic Forum has made in stimulating creativity and ambitious action in and for Ireland.
Another initiative of the Forum, and doing so well is - Year of Irish Design 2015, which is showcasing the best of Irish design both at home and internationally throughout 2015.
As we work to keep the Irish recovery going, we must sustain this collaboration and nurture the ideas of this Global Irish Family.
You are part of something very special. This is just the start - we have a way to go together.
Back in 2011 we met here in Dublin Castle in very different circumstances. Our economy, our banks, were on the brink of collapse. Our international reputation was in tatters.
But as can happen in a family crisis in the end the crash brought us closer.
I spoke to you then as emissaries of Ireland.
I thanked you then, and I thank you now, for being so generous in giving us your energy, your ideas, your time, your confidence.
At the worst of times you put your best faith in us. And because you did - you helped to get us back on track.
At the 2011 Forum this government was seven months in office and we were in the very early days - what emergency medicine calls ‘the golden hour’ of securing our recovery.
We had promised to address the fiscal crisis by driving reform and getting value for money. We had promised to protect and create jobs and put all this at the heart of our recovery plan.
So that today – with your assistance, and thanks critically to the resilience and the patience of the Irish people – we are now in a very different place.
Yes we are seeing recovery but it is still fragile and must be nurtured. Your advice, insight and support will continue to be invaluable.
You still have a critical role to play as we work to keep the recovery going. Stay on the right path.
The economy is adding over 1,000 new jobs a week.
This week we saw the rate of people out of work drop below 9% and below 200,000 for the first time since late 2008.
That’s good news for Ireland’s families, workers and businesses. But ‘good enough’ is not enough for Ireland and the people who made enormous sacrifices to get us to where we are.
And that idea of ‘enough’ involves the recovery being seen and lived in every part of the country. In fact we aim to get unemployment down to 6 per cent by 2020.
One of the effects of the economic crisis was the significant resurgence in emigration. It has had a significant impact on our country as we lost talent and energy.
As Ireland recovers, we need these people to come home.
To their families and with their families. To share their experiences and take up good jobs. To be confident of bright futures.
I believe after seven years of emigration, 2016 will be the year when the number of our people coming home will be greater than the numbers who leave.
In planning for the future, we must and will keep the national finances under control.
We have reduced the government budget deficit from a peak of 12.5% of GDP in 2011 to an expected 1.2% next year.
Our target is to eliminate it altogether in 2018 and deliver a balanced budget.
As well as looking inwards in our task of Ireland’s recovery, we also looked out. Today I’m glad to be able to say that our international reputation and market confidence have been restored.
Our credit rating is back to investment grade by all of the main credit rating agencies.
This is down in no small part to the work so many of you have done abroad.
As you know Ireland remains an attractive prospect in which to locate or grow a business. We want to make sure it stays that way which is why as a country we must stay on the path that has proven to be right that has brought us to recovery.
The theme of this year’s Forum is sustaining and strengthening our economic growth into the future.
The people in this room - the people on this island are fully committed to that.
UK/EU relations
Over the next couple of days, we will be interested to gain your perspective on a number of critical economic challenges faced by Ireland such as the possible exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (or Brexit) and the implications for Ireland as a member of the EU.
In my discussions with Prime Minister Cameron I have stressed that we want the UK to continue to play its part in Europe - and that the European Union needs the UK. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that for Ireland, any prospect of the UK leaving the EU represents a major strategic risk.
Global Diaspora policy
A major development since the last Forum was the government’s appointment last Summer of Jimmy Deenihan as Ireland’s first ever Minister for Diaspora Affairs.
The Minister has also worked closely with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to finalise the review of Ireland’s overall strategy for Diaspora engagement which we announced here two years ago.
A range of initiatives have been put in place to progress its objectives including the inaugural Global Irish Civic Forum which took place in June of this year.
Conclusion
This year’s Forum gives us a great opportunity to hear your voice - loud and clear. I want to hear what you have to say.
Of the 64 recommendations received at the last Global Irish Economic Forum, this Government has made significant progress on the vast majority.
I expect that this intense engagement will continue.
But for now enjoy your two days - we are here to share - to learn - to listen.
It’s how we will create a better, brighter, future for us all.
Ireland’s recovery resonates with the centuries-old motto of Paris….. Fluctuat nec mergitur. Tossed by the waves, but does not sink.
Welcome, enjoy and in this week when we have all been forced to think about what really matters to us, what we really value in our lives, may God bless you, and keep you and all those you love.
ENDS