Irish Trade delegation Led by Tánaiste
Brings Irish Innovation and Technology to Canada
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
 NICK MARMION (vice-president Enterprise Ireland for Canada) with Laureen Regan (Calgary) and Colm O’Carroll (president of the Edmonton Chapter of the Ireland-Canada Chamber of Commerce). |
 HER EXCELLENCY Mary Coughlan T.D. (Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment) at the Enterprise Ireland luncheon at the Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton. |
EDMONTON – Mary Coughlan had a jam packed itinerary in Edmonton, however The Celtic Connection was granted an interview with her just before the Enterprise Ireland luncheon at the Hotel Macdonald.
I asked Her Excellency about the economic situation in Ireland, the Lisbon Treaty and what types of businesses Ireland is interested in doing business with in Canada.
“We are going through a difficult time in Ireland,” the Tánaiste said. “We see it as a three pronged approach. One, that we are dealing with our banking situation, which is going through at the moment in the parliament and we hope to have that completed before Christmas.
“The second thing is that we are dealing with our fiscal problems, our expenditure. We have a budget coming up and we have to look at how we can reduce our expenditure on some sides and yet be very cognisant that the third part of that is how we can invest in enterprise, how we can support our growth in exports, and part of that policy is doing trade missions like this and getting out to sell Ireland.”
She said, “With 35 companies along with us from Ireland, we really see great opportunities in Canada, where we can take a lot of our good industries out here that are in the ICT – agricultural sectors, food, construction and health care – which will be made up of the pharmaceutical side and medical devices. So, we have quite a lot of companies that we can bring to Canada.”
Continuing, Coughlan said, “you might ask, why weren’t we here in Canada 20 years ago? Because, we didn’t have the skill, but now we have the capacity to provide for the customer here.”
Speaking about the impact that the Lisbon Treaty will have on the economy, the Tanaiste said, “with Lisbon passed, that will be hugely, hugely important and it has been a resounding support for the European Union.
“I believe that it has done immeasurable good and we have gained our regard within the European Union, which it hugely important for an Irish nation. And, also for the fact that we have a lot of companies, even Canadian companies in Ireland, who use this as a place to do business in Europe., We continue to have very strong influence in the European Union, which is exactly what we want to see.
“This has been hugely important for us and it has meant that our recognition and our reputation has definitely been positively effected as a consequence of that.”
Speaking about the types of businesses that the trade mission is interested in she said, “We are interested in technology and that technology can be used in agriculture, food, the services sector, be that governments or otherwise.
“For instance, how can you roll out a situation where you can DNA all your pigs in this country. We are currently working with the University of Alberta and Alberta Pork and we have a software solution that can do that traceability.
“We have a company here from Ireland called 3V. It’s a very unique thing by which they provide a credit card for a certain amount of money, which is disposable.
“ If you don’t have a credit card or don’t want a credit card, it’s similar to you buying credit for your telephone or for example. If you wanted to buy something on the internet, then you could buy credit on your Visa that is worth a certain amount of money and in that way, you don’t find yourself overextending yourself with your credit. So, this Irish company is out here in Canada with this new innovative idea.
“This is just one of the companies that we have brought to Canada, and it’s because of our own experience over the last 10 to 15 years, that we can bring this technology to this part of the world.”
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