Business bible has taken a battering

While Taoiseach Enda Kenny was downing the saki and talking up Ireland in Japan, the Government was receiving a PR boost from a US publication that is frequently described as America’s business bible.

The description by Forbes magazine of Ireland as “the best place in the world in which to do business” may have caused snorts of derision in certain quarters, but any boost to our foreign investment drive will surely be welcomed. It certainly beats the sort of press that Ireland was garnering a few years back when developer Sean Dunne was famously caught by a New York Times journalist picking coppers off a pub floor while former taoiseach Brian Cowen became the butt of jokes on Jay Leno’s chat show.

In reaching its verdict, Forbes listed 11 factors including property taxes, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom, red tape, investor protection, and stock exchange performance. Ireland edged out New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark, and Sweden to grab the prize.