Taoiseach to deliver speech at Harvard

Taoiseach Enda Kenny begins a three-day visit to the US today, the setpiece of which will be a speech to Harvard about the Irish economy and political leadership.

Mr Kenny will also meet with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and attend a charity fundraiser for Crumlin Children’s Hospital organised by Senator Eamonn Coghlan.

In addition, he will meet with a number of business leaders as he attempts to convince US industry that the Irish economy is recovering and can deliver on investment.

The trip commences in New York, where Mr Kenny will visit a Merck, Sharpe & Dohme facility in New Jersey this afternoon, before attending a gala dinner in aid of the Children’s Medical Research Foundation tonight.

The foundation, of which Mr Coghlan is a director, raises money for research and is attached to Crumlin.

The dinner will take place at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan, and it is understood over 30 tables have been sold at $10,000 per table.

Mr Coghlan made the headlines earlier this month when he joined Fine Gael, having been appointed to the Seanad as an independent senator by Mr Kenny.

Tomorrow morning, the Taoiseach will meet with Mr Bloomberg in City Hall and attend a Tourism Ireland event, before flying onto Boston, around which the visit is mainly centred.

He will deliver a speech on the economy and leadership to the JFK School of Government at Harvard at 5pm US time tomorrow, circa 10pm Irish time.

Later tomorrow night, he will address business leaders at a dinner in the Four Seasons Hotel hosted by the American Ireland Fund.

On Friday, Mr Kenny will undertake a range of events in Boston, beginning with a business breakfast hosted by the Irish American Partnership.

Later in the morning, he will call on Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, a close associate of President Barack Obama.

Mr Kenny will round off the trip by visiting the JFK Presidential Library and Museum, where he will address another gathering of business leaders hosted by Enterprise Ireland.

“We have to use every opportunity to reach out across the globe to give the message that Ireland is open for business and investment,” Mr Kenny said of the trip.

“We need to keep knocking on doors, through our links with agencies including the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Tourism Ireland.

“It is important that Ireland tells the world about the strenuous efforts being made here to deliver economic recovery.”

A Government spokesman said the visit to Boston was a logical follow-on from the investment conference organised in New York last week by former US president Bill Clinton.

Mr Kenny will depart for home on Friday afternoon.