Theme 5: Framework Conditions for Industry 4.0

3.4.1 CASE STUDY Upgrading Ireland’s International Arts Centres

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“The New Irish Arts Center will fulfil its mission to bring together our global Irish community, in a dynamic, diverse hub of international culture, commerce, and community, for generations to come.

In addition, as we recover from Covid-19, the new Center will serve as a powerful symbol and driver of the resurgent cultural heartbeat of the people of New York, Irish America, and the island of Ireland.

We are enormously grateful to the Irish government for your enduring commitment to this shared vision.”

• Aidan Connolly, Executive Director of the Irish Arts Center

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The Irish Arts Center New York, with the support of Government, has just completed its capital development project at 11th Avenue. The opening of this new state of the art facility is planned for later in 2021, when restrictions permit. It will act as a flagship 21st century destination and gateway for established and emerging Irish artists to present in New York.

The Government has supported this new building with substantial funding to ensure that Irish artists will have a creative home in this key global cultural city.

As well as serving as a platform to reach the diaspora and new audiences in the US, the IAC will become a hub for artists to travel onward and tour in the US.

The London Irish Centre in Camden plays an important role in showcasing Ireland’s artists and promoting Irish culture in Britain through an annual programme of arts activity with support from Culture Ireland.

In 2019, the Government gave financial support of £1 million towards the redevelopment of the centre in London and planning permission for the exciting new facility was granted in 2020 paving the way for work to begin on the imaginative new community and cultural centre on this historic site in 2023.

In January 2021, Centre Culturel Irlandais, Ireland’s cultural flagship in Europe, launched an ambitious strategic plan for the next five years which focuses on investing in the future, enriching the artistic programme and strengthening the engagement of CCI through strategic partnerships on mainland Europe.

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SECTION 4

Advancing Ireland’s Economic Interests

4.1 Export Markets

• Global Webinars: Over 1,000 companies participated in multiple sector webinars providing strategic customer and market insights • Enterprise Ireland’s overseas offices assisted with the national effort to quality check and source PPE through their international networks and physical presence. • Through initiatives such as the Scale UK Initiative, Enterprise Ireland is connecting with the Irish diaspora community to further build networks that can assist Irish companies with market entry and scaling their business. Similar initiatives are begin progressed in the Middle East and China. • EI’s strategic communications campaign, “the Irish Advantage”, connected 2 million buyers globally with the campaign’s ‘shop window’ for Irish innovation. It was supported by over 300 in-market client media articles. Irish Advantage will provide clients with increased market insights, buyer intelligence, buyer leads, virtual events and introductions and will boost their visibility internationally, as part of an international reputation building campaign.

Under Global Ireland 2025, Enterprise Ireland (EI) is charged with accelerating the diversification of export markets. Significant progress has been towards achieving its targets. EI client companies achieved record levels of exports in 2019 of €25.6bn, against the backdrop of Brexit uncertainty. In 2019, the Euro area, which is a key focus of Enterprise Ireland’s diversification strategy, saw growth of 15% to €5.65bn, with Germany, France and the Netherlands each exceeding €1bn in exports. Exports to North America increased from €4.08bn in 2018 to €4.72bn, an increase of 16%.

Key actions taken by the agency to support export growth and diversification include:

• EI Supported clients in winning 1,554 new overseas contracts in 2019, and 1,275 in 2020. • EI Supported clients establish 442 new overseas presences in 2019, and 404 in 2020. • EI organised 1,111 international buyer visits to Ireland in 2019. • EI organised 207 international trade and domestic events in 2019 across the Eurozone, North America, Asia Pacific, UK, Nordics, Central Europe and Latin America. This included 56 Ministerial-led trade events. • Providing targeted customer and market intelligence via a network of 40 overseas offices. • Organising 327 international buyer visits to Ireland in 2020.

Outlook for 2021

Enterprise Ireland will publish its strategic priorities to the end of 2021. Enterprise Ireland’s ambition for 2021 is to sustain Irish jobs and exports and increase the resilience of the enterprise base. By the end of 2021 the aim is to ensure global exports retain their prepandemic, pre-Brexit value of €25.6 billion.

The work of EI’s overseas network was greatly impacted by Covid-19 during 2020, with a significant change of focus and operations during the year. Key initiatives undertaken in the changed circumstances included:

Enterprise Ireland will also deliver, in 2021, a longerterm Corporate Strategy to 2025, which will involve a review of its global market strategies, including reflecting the post-Brexit trading environment.

• Virtual Trade Events/Buyer Engagements: Due to public health guidance, Enterprise Ireland was not in a position to run its annual Trade Events Programme. In response, Enterprise Ireland ran 59 virtual trade events and buyer engagements in 2020, supporting over 1,000 companies connect with overseas buyers. • The annual International Markets Week took place online. See case study in section 4.1.1.

Spotlight on Agri-Food Exports

Mexico is an important consumer market with a growing import demand for pigmeat and further growth is anticipated.

Despite the extremely challenging year in 2020, agri-food exports have held up reasonably well with an estimated fall in value of exports of about 2% compared to 2019. Irish agri-food exports are estimated at €14.3 billion in total in 2020 - down by €250 million or 2% from the 2019 figures of €14.5 billion. These figures include €1.3 billion in non-edible agri-food sector goods, including forestry and animal feedstuffs, which are not included in the Bord Bia figures.

The EU-Mexico Global Agreement which will significantly reduce tariff barriers to trade, will also provide new export market opportunities.

Market diversification remained a key priority for Bord Bia in 2020, notwithstanding the complications of Covid-19. An exercise was undertaken early in 2020 to re-evaluate market prioritisation globally, which informed diversification strategy throughout the year.

The fall in value of agri-food exports in 2020 was led by a significant fall in the value of beverages exported, along with smaller reductions in live animals, seafood and meat exports. Dairy on the other hand had a strong export performance with growth of about 1.5% in export value.

Key achievements included a dairy and livestock trade mission to Algeria and Egypt in February 2020 with 12 Irish dairy companies participating. Work was also undertaken to identify new buyers for Irish exporters in previously relatively unexplored markets.

The volume of exports also fell slightly at just over 1% to 7.6 million tonnes. Somewhat over one third by value of our Irish food and drink exports went to the UK in 2020, down slightly on previous years, one third to other EU markets and the remainder, somewhat less than one third, to International markets. As a direct point of comparison, in 2009, 45% of our food and drink exports went to the UK.

The year closed out with an innovative and successful virtual series of ministerial trade mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand focussed on raising awareness of Irish dairy in the markets and introducing Irish exporters to new customers. 429 international buyers attended these events and 448 initial introductions were made to Irish exporters with many more occurring subsequent to the event.

During 2020, increasing third country market access and furthering trade opportunities abroad continued to be integral parts of the Government’s response to the twin challenges posed by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government has been very active through Trade Missions and the leveraging of our network of agricultural attachés around the globe. For example, in May 2020, Ireland secured approval for the export of frozen raw pork to Mexico, a priority new market.

Alongside this activity, Bord Bia held Minister-led virtual meetings and trade receptions with priority customers across the UK, France, Germany, USA, UAE, China, Japan and the Philippines underlining Ireland’s commitment to our international partners. These efforts have been buoyed by the appointment of the first ever Minister of State with specific responsibility for New Market Development.

4.1.1 CASE STUDY

Enterprise Ireland Virtual International Markets Week

International Markets Week has been one of Enterprise Ireland’s (EI) longest running annual events. It is a unique week when Enterprise Ireland’s overseas team of Market Advisors return to Ireland and engage directly with clients on a one-to-one basis to review and support their overseas plans for the coming year. Clients have the opportunity to speak to Market Advisors from their existing markets, and to take the opportunity to get advice and support for potentially new markets of interest. The week traditionally involves a launch event and approximately 2000 individual meetings with Market Advisors, along with the opportunity to have one-to-one meetings in relation to Enterprise Ireland’s key supports and services.

The one-to-one client meetings were prioritised with Market Advisors and Brexit Consultants. Additional activities and meetings with other EI services and supports would not be facilitated but alternatively would be signposted on the website and in a Digital Brochure. Quick decision-making was facilitated by revisiting the core purpose for direction.

Results

• 700+ clients registered to attend Virtual IMW and 2000 + one-to-one meetings were held virtually over 130 Market Advisors dispersed world-wide across one week • 650+ action plans for clients recorded on the internal CRM to enable monitoring and follow up • 1650+ attended the virtual launch event which featured Damien English, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail. Previously the physical launch event only facilitated a couple of hundred to attend. • An increase in clients attending IMW with higher geographical spread participating. • A post event evaluation highlighted high client satisfaction demonstrated by positive qualitative feedback and achieving a high Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 78 and a rating of 4.5/5 for the benefit of the meetings. • Equally Enterprise Ireland staff rated the benefit of the meetings as 4.5/5. • Creation of a new Market Intelligence Network called IMW Connect. A platform which allows IMW participants to connect with companies operating in various Industry Sectors and Markets and is rolling out in early 2021.

In 2019 over 600 Irish companies and 140 international Market Advisors arrived in Dublin to attend EI’s International Markets Week (IMW) to discuss global export opportunities and how to evaluate the opportunities to accelerate diversification into new markets.

In March 2020 it was clear that a traditional IMW was not going to be possible in 2020 and it was equally clear the need for IMW had never been higher for our clients with the dual impact of Covid-19 and Brexit looming. A decision was made to move to a virtual event.

Appreciating the immense undertaking required, a cross-functional team was established with most of EI’s business functions contributing. Distilling down IMW’s core purpose was the first task and proved vital to provide direction throughout the project.

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4.2 Foreign Direct Investment

IDA Ireland’s objective under Global Ireland 2025 is to accelerate the diversification of FDI source markets, indicated by doubling the growth in IDA-supported project investments from non-US markets in the period 2018-2024.

Interaction with clients and site visits with potential investors have been organised using videoconferencing and other internet technologies since early 2020. See case study in section 4.2.1.

Outlook for 2021

IDA Ireland’s new strategy, Driving Recovery & Sustainable Growth 2021-2024, was launched in January 2021, in the context of the Government’s National Economic Plan. This strategy positions IDA to respond to the emerging trends that are accelerating as a result of the Covid-19 global pandemic. It will assist in identifying the opportunities for sustainable growth among IDA’s established base of clients through a focus on transformative investments to increase the productivity of Irish operations and their workforce through RD&I, digitisation, training and actions on sustainability.

Progress made in 2019/2020

IDA Ireland made significant progress in achieving this objective in 2019. The share of investments from outside North America increased from 30% to 37% over the period 2014 to 2019. At end 2019, there were over 1,600 IDA Ireland client companies employing 245,000 people in Ireland, with 60% of these jobs outside Dublin city. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) accounts for 10.5% of the Irish workforce.

Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 in 2020, IDA Ireland won 246 investments in 2020, with 95 of these being new name investments. Over 20,000 new jobs were created in IDA client companies and there are now 257,394 people directly employed in multinational sector in Ireland. The existing base of FDI showed continued resilience with 66.6% of new investments coming from North America in 2020.

Crucially it will also maintain a focus on attracting the next generation of leading multinationals to locate in Ireland, further driving sustainable growth and maximising the impact of FDI in Ireland to 2024 and beyond. In accordance with the Strategy, IDA will set out to:

• Win 800 investments – with the aim of having half of those go to regions. • Support client job creation of 50,000. • Drive market diversification.

The agency actively reviews its overseas presence to determine which markets can prove the most valuable sources of FDI in the medium term. Global economic and geopolitical developments mean that the FDI landscape is changing in ways that require IDA to deepen and diversify its overseas presence.

Doing so ensures appropriate and effective coverage of both industry sectors and geographies, in order that Ireland continues to capture a significant share of global investment flows which in turn, assists in the achievement of a variety of public policy goals in Ireland.

4.2.1 CASE STUDY

IDA Ireland Response to Covid-19

IDA reacted rapidly to Covid-19 early in 2020 to ensure the organisation was positioned to provide a continuity of service to clients and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the IDA team. The majority of client operations in Ireland were able to remain functioning successfully throughout 2020, as clients moved to remote working and/or carried out essential activities on site in line with public health guidelines.

IDA developed new customised tools over the course of the year to enable where possible investments to be won remotely, including the facilitation of remote site visits by client companies.

IDA’s Stabilisation and Recovery Plan was implemented in H2 2020, to identify growth opportunities. IDA engaged with client companies on their growth agendas, with a particular focus on transformation projects across RD&I, training and green investment. For new business, the plan sought to shepherd projects in the 2020 pipeline to completion and to continue to engage with target clients on their growth agenda with a view to building the 2021 pipeline.

The strength of multinational companies (MNCs) in Ireland has been vital in supporting economic activity, employment, exports and the public finances at a time of severe challenge in many domestic facing sectors. Ireland’s economic outperformance in GDP and export terms relative to other advanced economies, and relative to expectations at the outset of the crisis, is, in significant part, due to the resilience of IDA clients.

To support the building of IDA’s project pipeline for 2021, IDA launched a digital-focused global marketing campaign in Q3 to promote Ireland as a place of ‘innovation, invention and promise’. This was supported by the €10m in promotional and marketing initiatives for FDI provided for under the Government’s July Stimulus Package.

IDA took a number of steps in responding to the pandemic:

Staying close to existing clients

Through a structured engagement process, IDA’s Global Teams quickly engaged existing clients from March 2020 onwards with a focus on how the pandemic impacted their operations in Ireland and ascertaining how IDA and Government could support their operations. IDA utilises digital technologies to provide a continuity of service to clients remotely, availing of digital technologies that were put in place by IDA prior to the crisis in advance of IDA’s move to a new Global HQ in September 2019. In 2020, IDA engaged extensively with clients through various platforms on a one-on-one basis and also through online events and webinars (e.g. IDA held a webinar with senior representatives from the top employers within IDA’s portfolio on Ireland’s response to the crisis).

Supporting the HSE in the global sourcing of critical supplies

IDA provided formal support for the Health Service Executive (HSE) in its immediate response to the public health crisis from March 2020. IDA used its international network to assist the HSE in sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical care products in a challenging global market characterised by unprecedented demand for these essential goods.

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June April May H2 2020/2021+

March

4.3 International Finance

IDA Ireland’s objective under Global Ireland 2025 is to accelerate the diversification of FDI source markets, The Government engages actively, through the Department of Finance, with global financial institutions such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and European institutions including the European Investment Bank, European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the Council of Europe Bank, as well as multilateral development banks including the Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the African Development Bank.

The role also involves periodic interactions with other leading European figures, such as the so-called “Inter Institutional Actors” - meeting with the Presidents of the ECB, the Commission and the European Council. The President of Eurogroup represents the Eurogroup at Euro Area Summits and G7 Meetings. The President of the Eurogroup is also required to engage with the media and other stakeholders.

The assignment of the Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union portfolio to Ireland’s European Commissioner further elevates Ireland’s profile on EU banking and financial services issues.

Outlook for 2021

The election of the Minister for Finance as Eurogroup President has reinforced the leadership role Ireland plays at European level and provides an opportunity to deepen bilateral relationships in managing and driving the Eurogroup agenda. This increased role in shaping the future direction of the EU, its policies and budgets, is the fulfilment of a priority goal under Global Ireland 2025.

The annual European Financial Forum is the showcase event for Ireland’s international financial services sector. Once again, the Forum attracted a distinct mix of senior executives from global companies and public sector leaders in 2020. The 2021 edition of the Forum will be held as a virtual event on 11th February 2021.

Looking further ahead, the Government’s work on international financial policy will continue to play an important role in building alliances, promoting our priorities, and leveraging our bilateral and multilateral relationships.

It also gives a new focus to our engagement and objectives across a range of policy areas. The Eurogroup meets on a monthly basis with regular bilateral engagement with Ministers between meetings.

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Image: ©European Union

4.3.1 CASE STUDY

Virtual Engagements by the Minister for Finance

The outbreak of Covid-19 and associated restrictions presented challenges to the established methods of maintaining engagements with our international partners and building alliances through bilateral engagement.

The Minister participated in a business roundtable hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, where he provided an update on Ireland’s economy and highlighted key points of Ireland’s continued attractiveness as a partner for trade and location for investment.

At the Department of Finance, a programme of virtual international engagements was developed for the Minister for Finance, the Minister of State, and officials, to ensure that engagement with EU and international partners could continue despite the challenges associated with Covid-19.

The ‘virtual visit’ enabled Minister Donohoe to discuss the strong bilateral relationship between Ireland and the US, to share views on the economic impact of Covid-19 and pathways to recovery, and to discuss the dynamic two-way trade and economic relationship. It provided an opportunity to maintain relationships and engage with key contacts in the US administration, on Capitol Hill, and with the Irish-US business community, in the absence of an opportunity to travel to Washington due to Covid-19.

In this context, the Minister for Finance undertook a number of speaking engagements and bilateral meetings during 2020, including an intensive virtual US visit in June.

The experience and observed benefits of this ‘virtual visit’, in addition to other virtual engagements during 2020, will be incorporated into planning for 2021. In addition, in the longer-term post-Covid-19 landscape, such virtual engagements may provide an additional dimension to international engagement, to complement but not replace the established face-toface methods.

Over the course of two days, the Minister held discussions with US Treasury Under Secretary, Brett McIntosh; Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Chuck Grassley; and Presidential economic advisor at the White House, Kevin Hassett. He also met with Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, discussing the Fund’s response to the global economic challenge associated with Covid-19.

4.4 Trade and Investment Promotion

Planning for EXPO2020

The theme of Ireland at EXPO2020 is ‘Ireland - Island of Inspiration’ and the programme will follow and compliment the thematic weeks planned for Expo, including Climate and Biodiversity; Health and Wellness; Urban and Rural Development; Global Goals; and Travel and Connectivity. Ireland’s events and activities are in planning for Ireland’s Expo pavilion and around the Expo site. A whole of Government Team Ireland approach is a fundamental principle in the programme design and operation of EXPO.

EXPO2020 was postponed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Plans are currently in place for Expo to commence in October 2021 and run through to March 2022. Ireland’s participation in EXPO2020 in Dubai will showcase Ireland to a global audience, in a region with significant trade and investment potential. The EXPO2020 theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” will highlight our traditions and capabilities in fields such as innovation, creativity and education. Ireland’s participation at EXPO is built on a strong Team Ireland approach to promoting Ireland as a global partner for the development of new ideas and technologies in meeting international challenges, as well as an attractive location for business, study, tourism, and investment.

Building around these focal themes, and using the performance spaces at the Ireland pavilion and elsewhere on the Expo site, our programme will be a mixture of: trade missions, Ministerial visits, tourism promotion, food promotion, an innovation focus, business to business networking events, educational programmes for students, and a variety of cultural performances, activities and events.

The Government is working closely with the UAE authorities and stakeholders in Ireland to ensure Ireland is best placed to optimise our presence, given the challenges of the pandemic. A primary focus during the period covered by this progress report was the design and construction of Ireland’s pavilion, which is now complete.

We also have a number of flagship events planned outside Ireland’s pavilion, including for Halloween and St Patrick’s Day.

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19, to g six Lero, earch f ning ned uture nt ing e earch, nt’s	Shaping Our Future Delivering Today Preparing for Tomorrow Science Foundation Ireland Strategy 2025
	Shaping Our Future Delivering Today Preparing for Tomorrow Science Foundation Ireland Strategy 2025
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Science and Innovation

Science Foundation Ireland undertook its first missions, including at Expo 2020 and future St. Patrick’s Day programmes.

Outlook for 2021

Innovation and Science on 1 March 2021.

leader in research and innovation.

There are two pillars to the strategy, Delivering Today and Preparing for Tomorrow:

• Delivering Today focuses on developing Ireland’s top talent, building on our excellent research base and maximising tangible benefits to benefit Ireland in the immediate future. • Preparing for Tomorrow seeks to position Ireland to take first-mover advantage on new and emerging fields; to do this SFI will focus on anticipating what’s next by working collaboratively across the research ecosystem.

The strategy places a strong emphasis on seamlessly working with others to build a cohesive ecosystem that is embedded in the fabric of society and realising the potential of research for all of Ireland’s people. Working closely with colleagues across Government at home and abroad is an important element of this ambition.

4.5 Tourism

The impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism globally was overwhelming and immediate, with unprecedented and extremely serious consequences for the island of Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector. In 2019, overseas tourism delivered revenue of €5.9 billion to the economies north and south, with tourism employing around 325,000 people across the island. Since March 2020, we have had very few international visitors.

We are also sharing the content with our database of international travel and lifestyle journalists, who’re all looking for great ‘armchair travel’ ideas right now. We estimate that, so far, the campaign has helped generate positive exposure for Ireland in international media worth more than €200 million in EAV (equivalent advertising value).

Outlook for 2021

Unfortunately, given the increased incidence of Covid-19 and its continued devastating impact on the island of Ireland, and in our key overseas markets, most of Tourism Ireland’s paid-for promotional activity remains on hold for now.

While we face significant uncertainty right now, Tourism Ireland is actively planning for the restart of international travel, with a target of the second half of 2021.

There will be a three-phase plan to restart, rebuild and ultimately redesign demand. The priority for 2021 will be to RESTART tourism to the island of Ireland. While Tourism Ireland will remain active in all markets, closerto-home markets and North America are likely to provide the earliest opportunities. Planned activities include:

However, despite most of our paid-for promotional activity being on hold, it is vital for Tourism Ireland to keep the island of Ireland ‘top of mind’ with prospective international visitors – until the time is right for them to visit. This will ensure that we are in the best possible place to immediately start converting business for Irish tourism operators, when the time is right.

• The #FillYourHeartWithIreland campaign will continue into 2021. • Digital marketing has been increasingly important for Tourism Ireland in recent years. However, 2021 will see a step-change in our capabilities in this area. A significant redesign of Tourism Ireland’s international website, Ireland.com, has been under way throughout 2020. The new site will go live in early 2021; in all, there will be 33 market sites, in 30 different countries, in 11 languages. It will be fundamental to Tourism Ireland’s proposed kick-start success in 2021. • As international travel begins to restart, it will be more important than ever before to keep Ireland ‘top of mind’ with potential visitors. Major broadcasts in the pipeline include an Ireland food travelogue fronted by celebrity chef Donal Skehan, on PBS in the United States; and Hidden Ireland, hosted by respected American travel journalist Peter Greenberg, also on PBS. A new two-part series called Adrian Dunbar’s Coastal Ireland will air in February 2021 on Channel 5 in Britain. • A major new advertising campaign will be launched, when the time is right, with a very clear ‘book now’ message. The aim of the campaign will be to singlemindedly drive visitor numbers and intention to book a trip to Ireland. The concept revolves around creating a commitment to travel here by ‘pressing the green button’ – green being the universal colour of ‘go’. Filming for the campaign will take place when travel restrictions on the island of Ireland have been eased. It will include a focus on outdoor experiences and will feature some of our iconic attractions – including Trinity College, the Cliffs of Moher, Titanic Belfast, the Giant’s Causeway and Lough Tay, to name but some.

Our research shows that consumers are considering now where they will travel to on their first post-pandemic trip – so keeping the island of Ireland ‘live’ in that consideration set has never been more important, to ensure a successful recovery for Irish tourism.

Instead, the Tourism Ireland teams around the world continue to engage in an extensive programme of mainly non-paid-for promotional activity – to keep the island of Ireland visible, or ‘front of mind’, with prospective future holidaymakers, until such time as they can visit again.

Tourism Ireland’s global social campaign, #FillYourHeartWithIreland, has been running since April 2020. The initiative aims to bring the best of the island of Ireland onto people’s screens and to help ensure that Ireland stays ‘front-of-mind’ with prospective visitors for future holidays. It involves the sharing of inspirational content that speaks to the world at this difficult time and connects people with the island of Ireland.

To date, the campaign has achieved excellent engagement with fans and followers on social media, delivering 833 million impressions on Tourism Ireland’s Facebook channels, with 44 million video views and 7.9 million engagements. There have been 220,000 engagements on Twitter, as well as 7.4 million likes on Instagram.

Content produced for this campaign has also been used by our industry and trade partners, such as Aer Lingus and Stena, in their consumer communications.

Tourism Ireland, together with around 370 tourism industry partners, will participate in 26 virtual trade promotions in the first quarter of 2021 – meeting, and doing business with, over 5,000 important travel trade contacts.

Even though the transition period is now ended, the impact of Brexit on tourism is not yet clear, because of the devastating impact COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on our industry.

Post-COVID, we will be in a better position to assess the impact, potential opportunities and risks of Brexit for tourism to the island of Ireland.

These virtual promotions include ITB Berlin NOW, the PGA Merchandise Show, Britain and Ireland Marketplace, the Los Angeles Travel & Adventure Show, a Northern European virtual workshop and an ‘Ireland Meets the Middle East’ virtual workshop, as well as a virtual sales mission to Austria and Switzerland.

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Spotlight on St Patrick’s Day 2021

Saint Patrick’s Day attracts levels of publicity and media attention unmatched by the national day of any other country. It provides a unique opportunity to increase awareness of Ireland and our history, culture and values across our Mission network, and to celebrate our bonds with the global Irish family, our diaspora of over 70 million. The 2020 St. Patrick’s programme was severely curtailed owing to Covid-19. Nevertheless, the Government adapted to the challenging environment and hosted a number of events online.

The focus of the Government in 2021 is to inspire, as much as possible, Irish people and those connected to Ireland as they face new challenges and opportunities. Activities will be centred around virtual engagements in collaboration with key stakeholders.

Irish Embassies and Consulates will host virtual receptions including cultural performances and video contributions from political leaders. Ireland.ie will become a ‘Virtual Ireland House’. Other events involving the President and the Taoiseach are also being planned.

The first ever online global St Patrick’s Festival will take place in 2021, including a curated high-profile programme available through the Culture Ireland branded platform.

Tourism Ireland will roll out a programme of promotions to capitalise on the heightened exposure for Ireland around the globe on 17 March, to ensure that Ireland remains ‘top of mind’ as a great holiday destination for bookings when the time is right. A programme of virtual travel, trade and media events will be run in all overseas markets. Other events planned include:

• Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening 2021: hundreds of iconic landmarks and buildings around the world will take part in Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening 2021 initiative around St Patrick’s Day. From Brussels to Buenos Aires and from Sydney to San Francisco, a host of buildings and sites around the world will light up in green to mark our national day. 2021 will be the 12th year of Global Greening. In particular, the aim will be to bring some positivity and hope to the 70+ million people around the world who claim links to the island of Ireland. At a time when Irish people overseas cannot travel home, we want to shine a green light in as many locations around the world as possible, giving our Diaspora a sense of connection with home and reminding them that we cannot wait to welcome them back, as soon as it is possible to do so. Our Global Greening is a powerful symbol of the impact of the Irish abroad and is an expression of our reach, our shared values and our ambition. Tourism Ireland estimates that its St Patrick’s promotional activity alone generates positive publicity for Ireland worth well in excess of €10 million in advertising value. • A new online video will be created and shared by Tourism Ireland, to inspire people to think about holidaying in Ireland, without encouraging travel right now. • A tailor-made event, called St Patrick’s Day in your Living Room, will be livestreamed on social media from a pub in Ireland.

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Expanding Consumer and Commercial Transport Routes

To that end, in 2020 the Government agreed an €80m funding package for Irish aviation in addition to economy wide Covid-19-related supports – notably employment supports, rates waivers and deferred taxes. The value to the sector in 2020 of these measures was in excess of €100m.

Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic Ireland’s global connectivity was severely curtailed in 2020. The aviation sector globally has seen a catastrophic collapse and Ireland has lost a lot of strategic connectivity with Transatlantic, Asia- Pacific and Gulf markets - at least in the short term. However, the Government is fully alert to the devastating impact of the global pandemic on international travel and values the critical role that aviation plays in the Irish economy.

The airport authorities and tourism agencies will continue to engage constructively with international airlines a view to restoring lost connectivity. The Department of Transport will also continue to seek opportunities in 2021 to enhance our bilateral aviation relations through the negotiation of air transport agreements with third countries, both bilaterally and at the EU / multilateral level. Discussions on a new bilateral Air Service Agreement with the Republic of Korea for example have begun already in 2021.

It may still be some time before it is possible to permit a large-scale return to air travel, but the Government is committed to ensuring that the aviation sector can maintain the necessary core capability to retain strategic connectivity and to quickly rebound when circumstances allow.

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SECTION 5

Funding Global Ireland in Budget 2021

Funding Global Ireland in Budget 2021

The Year 1 Global Ireland progress report noted that the additional monies provided in Budget 2019 included significant increases in both the Overseas Development Aid (ODA) budget and allocated an additional €13 million to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Vote 28 to support the ambitious expansion of Ireland’s diplomatic network overseas.

Enterprise Ireland is being provided with an additional €1m in current funding to allow it to progress the Global Ireland Strategy and to expand its promotional and awareness activities. A key target is to support client diversification through the Irish Advantage campaign and to expand the Irish Advantage campaign to 40 + sectors and 70+ markets. In this regard, Enterprise Ireland plans to accelerate the roll-out of its digital campaign Irish Advantage in 2021 promoting Irish innovation and capability to international buyers and supporting exporter diversification into priority markets.

Budget allocations for the Department of Foreign Affairs Group continued to substantially increase in both 2020 and 2021 with the continued provision of additional funding related to Global Ireland to include EXPO, SECCO and an enhanced Brexit response. The following sets out the sustained levels of increased Government funding provided.

In July 2020, the Government announced its Stimulus package which included an additional €10 million for IDA Ireland for FDI related promotional activities. These monies will assist IDA Ireland in building a pipeline of investments from 2021 onwards and will enable the agency to activate its new strategy. It is IDA Ireland’s intention to use the additional resources granted to meet IDA’s FDI target audience in their home markets with new engaging content that gives them confidence in Ireland’s reliability as a place to invest. Partnering with some of the most established brands in the business world this campaign will be delivered via social media, newspapers and TV advertising campaigns.

Budget 2020 provided increased allocations for both ODA and some €19million additional for the Department of Foreign Affairs Vote including:

• €5million of this additional funding was allocated to nine new missions1 operational in 2020 under the Global Ireland strategy; • an additional €0.5 million was allocated to commence a further three new missions2

• €4million additional to provide for Ireland’s representation at EXPO 2020 • €6 million provided for enhancement of mission network and HQ under Global Ireland

Additional funding requirements that may arise from further initiatives highlighted within the Global Ireland Strategy will fall for consideration as part of the annual estimates process and will be considered in line with the range of demands across Government and the capacity of the public finances to meet them.

Similarly, Budget 2021 has provided an increased allocation of €30m for ODA bringing the total ODA allocation to €868m. Budget 2021 has also provided an additional €11million for the Department of Foreign Affairs Vote 28 which includes the following:

• €5 million of this increase was allocated to support Ireland’s Seat on the UN Security Council (SECCO) with additionality provided for missions in in New York, in HQ and in strategic locations around the world. • €2.75million additional to further operationalise those 12 missions already announced under this strategy and to initiate a further mission in Manchester to form part of Ireland’s Brexit response.

1 Wellington, Vancouver, Bogotá, Santiago, Amman, Mumbai, LA, Frankfurt & Cardiff full year operating costs.

2 Manilla, Rabat and Kyiv

Figure from page 48

SECTION 6

Monitoring Implementation

Monitoring Implementation

Global Ireland 2025 is a whole of government strategy; a commitment which is reflected in the Programme for Government, Our Shared Future.

Implementation of the strategy is overseen by a Senior Officials’ Group – led by the Department of the Taoiseach – which meets periodically and includes representatives from the following Government Departments:

• Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
• Department of Defence
• Department of Education
• Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
• Department of Finance
• Department of Foreign Affairs
• Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
• Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
• Department of the Taoiseach
• Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
• Department of Transport

State and other Government Agencies play an essential role in the implementation of the strategy.

The Senior Officials’ Group will continue to monitor developments and will consider a review of the strategy in December 2021, to coincide with the halfway point in the lifespan of Global Ireland 2025, including an examination of the original commitments and whether they remain relevant.

Prepared by the Department of the Taoiseach March 2021

www.gov.ie/globalireland