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GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA Merkel tops the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women for the fifth straight year but Hillary Clinton is snapping at her heels.
However, an Irish woman hasn’t made the list.
Behind them came Melinda Gates, who co-chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with her billionaire philanthropist husband, US federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and General Motors CEO Mary Barra.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde was in sixth place and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff came in seventh.
The top 10 were rounded out by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (No. 8), Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube (No. 9) and US First Lady Michelle Obama.
Newcomers include US pop star Taylor Swift, in at number 64 and the youngest of the bunch at 25.
The annual list of the world’s 100 most powerful women includes leaders in eight categories — technology, politics, business, finance, media, entertainment, philanthropy and billionaires.
Clinton, who in April announced her second run for the White House, was listed at number six last year but as US secretary of state she also ranked number two to Merkel in 2011 and 2012.
“Come next year’s US elections, she (Merkel) could lose her title for the first time since 2010 to the one person with a credible and mathematical chance of ‘leading’ the world,” wrote Forbes.
Even if Clinton wins the Democratic nomination for the White House, she has no chance of being elected US president until November 2016 — after Forbes publishes its 2016 most-powerful women list.
Forbes has put the German chancellor on the list 10 times in the past 12 years, nine of them as most powerful woman. Merkel was first elected in 2005 and won a historic third term in 2013.
Geographically speaking, the United States dominates the list. Fifty-nine on the list are American, including several immigrants.
There are 18 from the Asia-Pacific region, headed by South Korean President Park Geun-Hye at number 11, 12 from Europe, four each from Latin America and the Middle East and three Africans, Forbes said.
Other newcomers include EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, number 36; US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, number 34; and incoming Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner at number 80.
The magazine said the list features eight heads of state and one monarch, who govern nations with a combined GDP of $9.1 trillion (€8.4 trillion) and 15 billionaires with a total net worth of more than $73.3 billion (€64.4 billion).
The top ranking billionaire this year is Oprah Winfrey at number 12 with a personal net worth of $3 billion (€2.76 billion).
In another measure of influence, the 100 women on the 2014 list have a combined social media footprint that includes 474 million Twitter and YouTube followers, the magazine said.
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why does there have to be a conspiracy theorist everywhere !! Irish Whiskey is something with massive international appeal and something like this has the potential to pay back the paltry €150k spent by failte ireland a thousand times.
To have a visitor attraction in the city centre centring on one of our most iconic exports which isn’t tied to a brand (jameson, cooley, bush etc ) is a great addition to the tourism industry.
The return from tourism that this could generate can then go and provide funding for our schools etc ……
What conspiracy are you on about?
If they’ve such massive appeal let them secure private funding on their products market power
If you let the drinks company fund this you end up with an advertisement stand rather than a museum .. pointless as every distillery has one already.
I can’t seriously believe you people want the state to spend money promoting booze…that money could provide 15 poor kids with the full special rate college grant ffsake, it would fund a primary school or a dozen smaller repairs on the back burner.
and if the money spent pays a return multiples of the €150k many more kids will get full college grants etc …. there is a much bigger picture …..
Ryan.
Think about what you are saying.
This 150k will create jobs, drive tourist revenue and tax for the Govt.
Instead of 15 college grants now, we can get many multiples of that for a long time to come.
You want a slice of bread now for the poor rather than the whole loaf all week.
Ryan
Is your mind too small to both see and measure the bigger picture. We must enhance our offering to those who travel here as visitors and wish to understand us as a people. Distilling spirits is something that has been carried out on this island from time immemorial and we need to have a place that describes its history.
The bigger picture Ryan!
Just as we ignored the building of convention Centres for years and missed huge income opportunities.
Just as we ignored the building of major sports static so we could attract major world events that bring with them huge tourist numbers.
Just as we fought to prevent the building of interpretive Centres at our major historical sites such as Newgrange.
The bigger picture Ryan!
Probably too late for you on all fronts.
Scotland is Ireland’s biggest competitor in attracting visitors from international markets. They run hugely successful whiskey trails and have cashed in on the popularity of Scottish whiskey overseas. I don’t see why we can’t do it. Typical neigh-sayers on here all the time just looking for a negative spin on every story.
Its a joke and the same government is taking medical cards off sick and elderly people
Hi Ryan, this project is costing well over 2 million euro to complete so this funding only represents around 7.5% of the project funding.
Have to agree Gggordon. It would be easy to shout “waste of taxpayers money” but looking that the big picture..it looks like a wise investment.
Nariam, the stuff Scotland produces is called ‘scotch whisky’ and it’s popularity around the world is due to brand marketing. They don’t need a whisky museum, so why do we.!!
Yes the Scots have scotch. I do know that Chris. But why can’t we promote our whiskey?? Sales of Jameson alone are up double figures this year and they’re expanding internationally. We should be using this as a positive. Not to promote excessive drinking, but promote something that is unique to Ireland. Sales and popularity of craft beers are also on the increase.
And FYI, Scotland have plenty of whisky museums: http://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/ to name but one. Just take a look at some of the food and whisky trails Scotland is offering: http://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/itineraries/food-drink/. I doubt you’d find Scottish people bemoaning initiatives like this that can bring visitors to an area…..unlike the Irish…
A whiskey museum is an awesome idea. Nothing beats a glass of the life water.
The Whisky Experience here is Edinburgh is a hugely popular tourist attraction. Hopefully the Irish Whiskey Museum will see similar success.
Sweny’s ‘James Joyce’ pharmacy may have to close down due to DCC rates, but the Govt. give €150,000 to open up ANOTHER whiskey museum! Who are these clowns running our city!?!?!
Sorry Alan, but I don’t see how a country like Ireland with just a few distilleries can be compared to Scotland which has hundreds of them.
So the government will find a whiskey museum but struggle to fund schools across the country? And Failte Ireland’s CEO is Shaun Quinn… Hmmm interesting
I think a significant ROI is a safe bet here, Brian.
No ROI on education if everyone has to emigrate.
It is the €30 million that was given to the GAA a few weeks back that puzzles me….
It is a no brainer funding this.
It create jobs, drives revenue, generates a good return on investment which will help fund schools.
What people like you Brian do not understand is that Schools will have to be funded indefinitely, so we need to generate revenue stream to do that, ones that give long term revenue and a good return.
Xbog generation thinking, all about the moment and no long term planning is not going to work.
the tourists will also spend more in the underneath Cigar shop if they’re a little tipsy….:)
that maybe the case jimbo but im guessing some government big wig brother cousin or crony has a new silent partner .
Dermot
What is im guessing as you describe it in your little bit of nastiness. Is it the absence of a spellcheck in your own brain or do you think im guessing?
Very interesting comments folks. We would like to mention that this same funding pool from the government has also been used to fund projects such as Dublinia, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Christchurch, Smock Alley Theatre and a range of other great developments around the city. The project is an effort to restore the central area of Dublin for tourists. The building we are using for the Irish Whiskey Museum has been vacant for a number of years and now we are bringing it back to life again. We are a private entity with no backing from the drinks industry. The project is costing over €2m with over 90% being privately funded. We want to bring the ‘real’ story of Irish whiskey to the people, an industry which generates substantial employment and funding to the economy.
Looking forward to seeing you there soon.
The Irish Whiskey Museum
Congratulations & well done for getting this exciting enterprise off the ground. An absolutely magnificent premises.
You should be getting the likes of Irish Distillers to pay for it…..not the state.
There’s been a real revival in Irish whiskeys popularity over the last few years…green / yellow spot, red breast to name a few. The museum is a great idea and will hopefully help improve the popularity of our brands and restore Ireland to its pre 1930s days as the world leader in whiskey sales.
They should just turn the Dail bar into a Whiskey museum.
It always seems to be open 24/7…..
Somebody needs their arse kicking over this. Collectively the main distilleries in Ireland could have easily afforded this….With tax breaks. Once again the government provides evidence of how empty their heads are.
Right on. Next we’ll have an Irish Museum of Gambling, the heartwarming story of how betting shops have emptied the pockets of the working class for generations, reaping obscene profits.
More booze tourism. Just what Dublin needs. Maybe all the drunken homeless on the streets could get jobs as the tour guides.
I think you’ll find that people who go to Whiskey Museums are not for booze tourists .. they are for people who we hope will spend €20 getting a tour and then hopefully drop another €50+ on a decent bottle of whiskey and share that whiskey with mates back home and then their mates buy a bottle in there local supermarket or hopeful come a visit themeelves.
It’s still booze tourism no matter how you dress it up, along with Guinness – practically the only thing many tourists visit when they come to Dublin. That and Temple Bar…
it’s tourism .. spending money in our economy. And you have a totally misguided notion of what tourists do when they get to dublin if you think the only thing they visit are temple bar and guiness.
BTW … I suppose when you go to france you stay away from the wine and when you go on holidays you won’t have a beer with dinner?
If tourists want to spend their money on booze then let them, they’re not coming for the sunshine.
Marko.
Don’t transpose your own holiday norms on to others. Only a few will spend the week rat ars-ed in Temple bar.
You are presuming that your own failings and weaknesses are societal ones rather than driven by your own self pity.
You’re wasting your time explaining that to paddy as drinking and building is all they know and excel badly in both departments.. But hey I’m a tanked up loser in a helicopter so what do I know.
FF rock
SF rock
Labour rock but not so much
Seanie rocks a little as strive nicks would say
FG suck the sweat of a dead mans balls
It’s such a beautiful building, The floors above the shop have been up to let for ages now. Thank God it’ll finally be put to good use as a museum.
Way to play right I to the national stereotype lads, as if a drunk pri!me minister on the air and a tax free bar in his workplace didn’t do enough damage. Way to show us as a mature developed country, we won’t provide universal healthcare or education and we fund public schools at under200 a head while the private ones are 3-5000 per head cos were short of cash..but u need 5 average industrial wages for a drinks museum? Tell me this is a joke…please
*Taoiseach
Mature, developed country? You are having a laugh, right?
No Sargon I’m not joking. I’m sick of this assumption that we can only ever b a backward neocolony our standards for our leaders are too low and we tolerate too much cute whoorism etc its time we set the bar higher
You reckon if we set the bar higher our politicians won’t drink so much? Good plan
True it’s a joke. I hope the irish ambassador to Australia is reading your comment. But that’s all paddy knows and building shoddy structures .
Ryan, Brian, Sargon.
My but you are a right trio of losers.
People like you three have nothing to offer Ireland or anywhere for that matter.
Yeah right man
Great to see this. Irish Whiskey is acquiring a great reputation worldwide, as a high quality product.
In a time of economic recession it is especially important, to invest in industries like this. The food & drinks, (& tourism) industry are one of Irelands very few ‘native’ industries.
We need to support & develop them as much as possible.
The Whiskey distilling industry generates revenue, jobs – & also supports the tourism & agriculture sector.
It is a big earner for Ireland and supporting a lot of jobs here.
Things like this reinforce that and develop the market further by educating tourists that come here.
The nay sayers to this offer nothing to Ireland or its people, just poverty and self pity.
Where did the myth that money appears out of thin air come from? We need to generate wealth to fund our quangos and charities and that means exports of top quality products like our whiskey. Unfortunately Ireland has become a country of whingers and spongers who can’t see beyond their next handout.
Money is created out of thin air and its just paper really.
Go and ask for mortgage and the money is created out of thin air by the bank based on the value of the house. The money was not on the ledger before you signed for the mortgage- so logically money is created out of thin air.
Logically we as a nation could create all the money we need out of thin air too and share it equally and make sure if citizen has all their human needs fulfilled.
Then as Dr Wrennell points out, our economy would grow as everyone would have money to spend.
Worth a try?
Better than doing the same old hamster wheel run for hundreds of years now under foreign rulers.
I see.
What’s the museum like inside, Catherine?
The ISPCC and the rape crisis centre have to close their phone lines for lack of funding.
I think we have to think more about how our money is spent.
Come to Ireland get pissed great advertising
where is that advertising Robert?
That is what it maybe says to you.
That is a reflection on you rather than the tourists that would go to this.
Maybe you could not go to a Whiskey Museum without making a complete fool of yourself but most others can.
The Irish Whiskey exports are a great success story for the last decade, creating new jobs and bringing a lot of revenue in to the country.
It is good news and things like this build on it.
Don t drink the shit never will it’s a mad mans drink , as for calling me a fool you my friend are the fool if you think that this puts a good view of us to the rest of the world , there are better ways
this money could have been spent.
It is ironic that while hundreds of pubs are closing down around the country some bright spark comes up with an idea for an Irish whiskey museum. The government needs to get it’s priorities right and sort out the below cost selling of alcohol in supermarkets, so that pub licencees can get a decent livelihood.
Booze and religion eh? Thought we’d got past that by now.
Child Line on it’s knees looking for funding and the Government give €150,000.00 for whiskey museum…Now that is what I call prioritising!!!! Enough said.
It is called job creation and investing in our future.
Honestly. What kind of future do you offer Ireland or its children.
Nothing. Your approach only ensures that Child line demand increases.
Think before you type.
@SeanieRyan, are people not allowed to comment on the journal. You have a smart ass reply for all comments here. Is that all you can contribute????
I just hate self pity and do not indulge those who love to spin things in a bad way to satisfy their own bleak outlook.
Maria, you have to acknowledge Seanie’s input. He has a more educated outlook than the majority of commenters on here.
Also, his comment was that “smart-assed”.
You seem to just be dissappointed that your comment wasn’t followed up with a “well said, Maria.”.
Oh well.
Anything that brings more tourists in means more actual cash spent. Can’t see what all the fuss is about. It’s a very small percentage investment in the overall scheme of things.
have your say