Irish eyes are on the future, says Dublin’s man in Buenos Aires

The shamrock is synonymous with trinity in Irish tradition and Dublin’s Ambassador Gerard McCoy and his star guest here last year, the distinguished economist Alan Barrett, each has his own trinity to promote the Emerald Isle.

Interviewed by the Times to mark Saint Patrick’s Day next Monday, McCoy comes up with the following podium of areas after 30 months of diplomatic work here – culture, education and sport. In an intense visit last November to explain the Celtic tiger’s success to government officials, think tanks and universities, Barrett highlighted three keys in particular – a heavy investment in higher education (making it both free and nationwide), a focus on finding incentives for foreign direct investment and the 1973 entry into the then European Economic Community (crucial for offering that FDI an English-speaking gateway).

McCoy numbers Argentina’s Irish community at half a million, the largest in Latin America – proud of their origins while identifying strongly with their adopted country – and dating back at least to Admiral William Brown (born in 1777 in County Mayo with the anniversary of his 1857 death commemorated here last week) with an Irish Embassy here since 1948 (for decades the only one in Latin America, although there are now four others). Yet while proud of this long history, the Limerick-born envoy underlines the need to look to the future – the best way to predict the future is to create it, he says.

Among the government representatives joining the Irish diaspora for Saint Patrick’s Day in 90 cities and 40 countries, Argentina will be honoured with the presence of Jack Chambers, the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services, Reform & Digitalisation and deputy leader of the ruling Fianna Fáil party – a senior minister indeed despite his youth (34 years of age). His closest local equivalent is Deregulation & State Transformation Minister Federico Sturzenegger, with whom he will be exchanging notes. In contrast to the overwhelmingly urban Irish diaspora elsewhere in the world, a heavily rural Irish community present in virtually every Buenos Aires Province inland town awaits him here, points out McCoy.

Expanding on his trinity of culture, education and sport, McCoy explains that the first two overlap with education dovetailing into  a wider range of sectors – English language is one obvious area (and he would also like to see more Irish students learning their Spanish here) but he also lists IT, agribusiness and public health. There is a solid base of Irish schools here (Colegio Santa Brigida, St. Brendan’s, San Patricio, Champagnat, Stella Maris and even one named after his home town of Limerick) while on the other side of the estuary he names the Old Christians – world-famous for the 1972 Andes plane crash, of which he met a survivor (Gustavo Zerbino) on his last visit to Montevideo (McCoy also represents Ireland in Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay). But the Dublin envoy aims higher than secondary education, organising a virtual meeting with Irish universities last December – he would also like to bring the benefits of the EU’s Erasmus+ programme here to promote exchange between Irish and Argentine universities.

On the sports front, McCoy highlights rugby with Felipe Contemponi an invaluable link but he is also pleasantly surprised by how Gaelic football seems to appeal to the young in particular.

At this point the Times expressed mild surprise about the absence of business or economic areas like trade and investment among his priorities when they would top the list for most of his colleagues. In reply, McCoy referred to President Javier Milei’s praise for the Irish economic model, to which Barrett’s visit was a response (also warning about the pitfalls, as well as recommending the pluses). Nothing huge to report but Irish business interest is on the rise, especially for smaller companies looking for an entry point into Latin America – McCoy’s hope is that Argentina may come to be seen as the gateway which Ireland already is for much of the world. The trade figures are also up from last year. Argentina is Ireland’s third-largest trading partner in Latin America and the Caribbean with trade in services valued at over one billion euros while merchandise trade is almost half that figure. Argentina is among the top global food exporters to Ireland, valued at nearly 250 million euros. 

In McCoy’s eyes, trade has to be a two-way street – as one example, he recently visited Mendoza where (apart from helping to promote cooperation between the Universidad de Cuyo and University College Cork) he was seeking to encourage wine exports to Ireland in exchange for the local interest in Irish whiskey (whose brands include McAllister like the local football clan). Wine for whiskey – a win-win (or win-wine) situation.

This need for trade to be a win-win situation was likewise McCoy’s response to the Times question as to where Donald Trump’s “Fortress America” approach leaves Ireland, especially given the massive importance of United States companies in FDI as underlined by Barrett, boosted by longstanding ties at a human level. Ireland is the sixth-largest investor in the United States, McCoy points out – if Trump wants reciprocity, Dublin can give it to him. But membership in the European Union and support for the international multilateral system remain paramount for Ireland.

Saint Patrick’s Day will be celebrated in style the day after tomorrow but Irish eyes are on the future beyond.