Irish Ambassador Michael Collins presents the award to Daniel Hilferty, CEO of Independence Blue Cross.
After congratulating Irish American Business Network founder Bill McLaughlin and his staff for their ability to pronounce the Irish word Taoiseach—tee-shuck, the traditional name for Ireland’s prime minister—at the group’s annual awards ceremony on Thursday in Philadelphia, Irish Ambassador Michael Collins told a story of how impressed he was when a group of Asian students he visited also pronounced the word accurately. Or so he thought.
“Then I happened to glance at the desks where they were sitting and written on each one was the word “T Shirt,’” he said, to the appreciative laughter of the more than 300 local business people who attended the annual Ambassador Awards luncheon at the Hyatt at the Bellevue in Philadelphia. “I thought, ‘Whatever works.’”
Then, Collins told the crowd, many of whom work for or do business with companies with Irish ties, what’s now working for the Irish. In the last few years, he said, Ireland “was in the news in ways we never wanted.” With peace in Northern Ireland, a new set of “troubles” beset the island country. After an economic boom, Ireland went bust, or very nearly, as unemployment rose to double digits, banking scandals made headlines daily, and Ireland became the first country in the Eurozone to declare it was in recession. Its debt was downgraded to junk status.
But, said Collins, Ireland has since become “the poster boy in terms of the effects of measures taken to try to bring the economy in line.” Austerity measures—still being protested all around the country—have made it possible to close the budget deficit in two years, Collins said. “It has taken determination and reslience. And the Irish are nothing if not resilience. It’s embedded in th
e Irish DNA.”
Some positive news to come out of Ireland: Exports are now larger than 100 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The country’s largest export customer is the US, which gets 1/5th of everything Ireland exports. Pharma, computer software, financial services, and agribusiness continue to be strong. Eli Lilly and PayPal are moving operations to Ireland, and Collins said that the country is about to get a new “investor that is very impressive indeed,” though he didn’t share the name.
Ireland is also on its way to become “more competitive,” he said, and tax rates for corporations remain tantalizingly low—12.5 percent.
“I attended an economic summit with President Clinton and he said it was ‘nuts not to invest in Ireland’—his words,” Collins said.
The Ambassador’s Award, presented annually to recognize a company that has furthered the goals of the Irish American Business Chamber by developing business between Ireland and the United States, was give to Shire Plc, a specialty biopharmaceutical company with 5,000 employees in 28 countries, including the US. Shire employs more than 500 people in its Chesterbrook facilities. CEO Angus Russell accepted the award on behalf of the company, where he started in 1999 as chief financial officer.
Daniel J. Hilferty, CEO of Independence Blue Cross, received the Taoiseach Award, which honors people of Irish descent who show compassion and leadership. Hilferty spearheaded the Healthy Hoops Program which uses basketball to teach health care consumers how to manage their health. He was also behind the donation of 2,500 toys to the Toys for Tots campaign by Independence when the Marine-backed program appeared to be faltering.
Timothy Chambers, filmmaker, founder of Tango Traffic, and former director of the Pennsylvania Film Office, received the Uachtaran Award, given annually to people who initiate cultural or economic alliances with Ireland. Chambers was the writer-director of “The Mighty Macs,” an inspirational film about the Immaculata College women’s basketball team that won the first national championship in women’s basketball. The movie starred Carla Gugino and David Boreanaz.
