TWO US JOURNALISTS said our professional politicians “ain’t so professional”, and that they were faced with “incompetence” when they visited Ireland… so did they use their reporting to put the boot in?
As you can see, Rich Preston and Ari Shapiro, from America’s main public broadcaster National Public Radio (NPR) were decidedly unimpressed when they tried to interview our ministers while on a trip to Ireland.
It’s worth noting that the government’s official news service, MerrionStreet.ie, did try to sort things out, and was trying to confirm the journalists’ claims.
Now the men’s report on NPR has gone live, so have they used it as a chance to reprimand the powers that be on the Emerald Isle?
Let’s take a look.
The report is titled US Tech Firms See Green As They Set Up Shop In Low-Tax Ireland, and looks at how the American tech sector is “huge in Ireland – and growing fast”.
In the first part of a two-part report, Ari Shapiro visits Apple’s campus in Cork. No one from Apple was there to talk to them, so they talked to the neighbours instead. They recount how a road was built because of Apple, and how “the city has transformed” with “trendier bars” thanks to US tech companies.
A spokesperson from IDA Ireland also explains about how tech companies are a boost to the country, while they take a trip to Twitter’s Dublin office to be told all the great reasons to bring business to Ireland.
Then, at the end of the report, they bring in a tax expert, who is also asked why companies move here. He gives a shorter answer: “Because they don’t have to pay much tax”.
It’s a pertinent report, given the removal of the ‘double Irish’ tax loophole in the recent Budget announcement.
So, no mention of our Ministers’ interviews there. This isn’t mentioned in the second report either, which just went up today. This time, Shapiro focuses on corporate tax, and how some US companies pay less than 2% tax on their profits in Ireland – such as Apple.
“That makes American lawmakers furious,” says Shapiro.
He speaks to some young professionals in Ireland, who say that Ireland benefits from the tax laws. Then he focuses on the Double Irish tax, and how the ‘loophole’ was closed.
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