Ahern tells US: 'Ireland is open for business'

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has told the heads of industry in New York that Ireland is still a good place to invest, despite the fact that the Central Bank has said the Celtic Tiger boom is all but over.

Speaking to the US Council for Commerce and Industry in New York last night, Mr Ahern put forward a confident picture of the Irish economy, saying Ireland can weather the impending recession.

However, Mr Ahern avoided using the dreaded ‘r’ word and insisted that Ireland’s current economic problems are merely a ‘short-term downturn’.