US firms not concerned by who is resident in Park

IN the rough and tumble of elections, and the current Presidential election is no exception, it is to be expected that the CVs of all candidates will be probed, parsed, analysed and scrutinised, not just to highlight their respective good points, but to expose their collective Achilles heels.

However, the statement by the Environment Minister Phil Hogan that US multinational companies would be appalled if Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness was elected President, and that Ireland’s competitors for foreign direct investment “would not be slow to whisper about a terrorist in the Park”, is without merit, unprincipled, and is a cheap jibe unworthy of a government minister. It is not so much scraping the bottom of the barrel as underneath it.

When Taoiseach Enda Kenny met with the American Chamber of Commerce recently, both sides identified Ireland’s future requirements to meet the needs of business as a priority. Mr Kenny pointed to a young, talented, educated workforce, a commitment to our current corporation tax rate, competitive energy costs, reform of our education system to meet the requirements of business, and an efficient infrastructure which will reduce business cost base.

Foreign investors select a location where they are most likely to maximise profits — locations which offer competitive labour costs, a skilled workforce and, in Ireland’s case, low corporation tax.

Mischievous gossip, negative electioneering and character attacks on Presidential opponents from Phil Hogan pose a threat to attracting foreign investment to Ireland, not Martin McGuinness. The recent visit to the US by the NI First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resulted in the securing of thousands of jobs for the North. Give me the substance of Mr McGuinness over the empty rhetoric of Minister Hogan any day.

Tom Cooper

Delaford Lawn

Knocklyon

Dublin 16