Ireland has high hopes for 2011

By Kim Se-jeong

Despite a demeaning mammoth bailout last November, this year’s prospects for Ireland couldn’t be brighter.

Among many, Ambassador of Ireland to Korea Eamonn C. McKee cited three reasons for such optimism: a new government, a visit by the British Queen and St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner.

Earlier this month, Irish voters replaced the eight-decade old ruling party Fianna Fail with a center-right party Fine Gael in a general election.

In what the ambassador described as “an act that showed the genius of democracy,” Fine Gael won 76 seats and a center-left Labor Party 37, taking over two-thirds of the seats in the parliament to become a ruling coalitional government.

The fall of the ruling party was attributed mainly to the banking crisis and property bubble in the country that had a huge impact on every single Irish person’s life.

“Action was to holding people (in the government) accountable,” he said, referring to the election. However, “the election wasn’t just about the past, as it is also for the future.”

He said people have a great deal of hope in the new party, which will have to make tough decisions.

The banking crisis and property bubble in Ireland led the country into recession in 2008.

It requested help from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which provided an 85 billion euro bail-out last November.

The government then adopted austere measures, cutting public spending such as wages for civil servants as far as it could.

The most painful part with regards to the bail-out fund is the high interest rate.

Lenders imposed a 5.8 percent interest rate, arguing it would serve as a remedy for prevailing moral hazards in Ireland.

The Irish government opposed it, insisting that the interest rate requested by the EU would only dampen the nation’s economic growth.

New Prime Minister Enda Kenny is expected to renegotiate with his European colleagues at an EU summit later this month.

McKee projected the new government will also step up efforts for political reform, to bring changes in how “the government does business.”

One significant change for the ambassador will be the expansion of the foreign ministry, which will cover trade.

“It will be the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, not the Department of Foreign Affairs,” he said.

And that will probably mean an additional diplomat or two charged with trade-related matters for the embassy in Seoul.

Currently, trade is being handled separately by public agencies.

A state visit by British Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland in the spring is another noteworthy event that carries tremendous significance for Ireland.

The announcement was made March 4, saying “President McAleese is pleased to announce that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has accepted an invitation to visit Ireland this year.”

The first-ever visit by the British monarchy means an advancement towards reconciliation between Great Britain and Ireland, whose relations have soured since the war of independence between 1919 and 1921 and the dispute over Northern Ireland.

“Because of the partition of Ireland and other issues, she has been unable to visit Ireland,” he said.

The visit will also mark a momentum for the Irish President McAleese, who has done extensive work as “a bridge builder for peace.”

As McAleese’s second term is coming to an end, the Queen will be “a guest to our President,” the ambassador said.

On another festive note, St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish national day, is a huge festival that reminds people around the world of Ireland and its cultural elements.

It has become a widely-participated event that takes place in various corners of the world, wherever Irish immigrants and their families live.

In Seoul, the Irish Association of Korea is organizing 11th St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Saturday, March 19 in Insa-dong, Gangnam, and Itaewon, Seoul.

Irish folk dancing and musical performances, a display of Gaelic football — a unique national sport from Ireland — and Guinness, the Irish beer and one of the largest export commodities to Korea, will all be on hand to entertain participants.

“We’d welcome anyone who’d like to participate,” the ambassador said.

For more information about the yearly celebration, visit: www.iak.co.kr.