Taoiseach plays down Bruton’s treaty comments

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has played down suggestions that the rejection of the Lisbon treaty could make US companies more reluctant to invest in Ireland.

He was responding to comments by former Taoiseach John Bruton, the EU ambassador to Washington. Mr Bruton said earlier this week that the US had been left “baffled” by the Irish rejection of the treaty, and felt Ireland was turning away from the EU.

“Clearly, companies that are already invested in Ireland and are doing well there are not going to be influenced by this sort of thing because they have their own independent sources of information, but I would expect that companies that are looking at a number of countries for the first time might be influenced by it,” he said.

Mr Cowen admitted that the Government would have to contend with the perception that Ireland was turning away from the EU, saying the no vote could “cause some confusion as to what our overall intentions are”. But he stressed the Government would make it clear to business leaders that Ireland wished to remain at the heart of the EU.

“As you know, our decision has created some uncertainty as to what direction Europe will go in generally. But obviously our industrial promotion agencies will be making very clear that we see our strategy in Ireland, both economic and political, as being at the heart of Europe.”

Today, Mr Cowen will meet with the Chairman of the Friends of Ireland, Democratic Congressman Richie Neal, before flying home.