Chinese investment - Alliance will bring real benefits

With the wealth of nations, and indeed their debts, estimated nowadays in billions as opposed to mere millions, there is a danger that a tangible aspect of Ireland’s trade mission to China in securing contracts worth €35m could be dismissed as ‘small beer’.

Such negative sentiments would, however, be wide of the mark judging by the note of confidence in Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton’s prediction that it is a portent of things to come and will be followed by Chinese investment here in the near future.

That’s a mouthwatering prospect at a time when the domestic economy is mired in difficulty. A cynic might attribute the minister’s up-beat assessment to politicking but by any yardstick, the trade mission organised by the IDA and Enterprise Ireland with 90 Irish firms has proved a highly successful venture.