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Micheál Martin and Stephanie Mehta Alamy

Taoiseach's interview at SXSW gives us first glimpse into how Oval Office visit might play out

The Taoiseach was well prepared with facts and figures on the mutually beneficial trading relationship between the US and Ireland.

AN INTERVIEW AT the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin last night saw the Taoiseach squirm when asked what his chicken fillet roll order is, but he kept his cool when tricky questions about US-Irish trade were put to him.

His approach to the interview gave us the first real sense of how he intends to handle things if he is put in a difficult spot while visiting Donald Trump in the Oval Office tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, Martin batted away questions from the press about his forthcoming meeting with the US President.

He told reporters that he was taking the trip on a day-by-day basis, but in last night’s interview he showed us exactly how he plans to respond if asked about Ireland’s economic relationship with the US.

While at the White House tomorrow, the Taoiseach will meet privately with Trump, but ahead of this, the pair will sit and take questions from both Irish and US media in the Oval Office. 

This part of the day is viewed by the Taoiseach’s team as the most risky, with no knowing just what unwanted questions might be thrown at either leader. 

The soundings from the Taoiseach’s team have been that he plans to keep the public element of the meeting focused on all of the positives of the Ireland-US relationship, but last night’s interview showed that even if this isn’t possible, he is well prepared when it comes to trade. 

A significant talking point in the last week has been the “trade imbalance” that exists between Ireland and the US, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio even claiming to have discussed it during a phone call with Tánaiste Simon Harris last week

Last year, Ireland exported approximately €50bn more goods to the US than it imported – something Trump and his team are not happy about. 

When asked about this last night during a sitdown interview at Austin’s SXSW, the Taoiseach gave an insight into how he is going to diplomatically push back against any narrative that the trade relationship between Ireland and the US is unfair. 

“This is a bit more complex than gets presented by figures,” the Taoiseach said. 

He noted that Ireland is the sixth largest investor into the US economy and made the argument that the “extraordinary purchasing” of Ryanair and AirCap does not get captured in the figures collected by the US Department of Commerce. 

“The amount of aircraft they have bought from Boeing is phenomenal,” the Taoiseach said, adding that when put together, Ryanair and AirCap are the biggest purchasers of Boeing aircraft in the world. 

He also stressed the interconnectedness between the US and Ireland and the “win-win” that has resulted from US companies setting up base in Ireland.

Hold the nerve

The Taoiseach also advised companies operating in Ireland to “hold the nerve” in the face of threatened US tariffs.

“Our view as a small open trading economy, tariffs are not good for the economy. And we believe, as a small open trading economy, that the era of free trade, probably led to the greatest era of rising prosperity in the world. And so we shouldn’t forget that,” the Taoiseach said.

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    Mute Michael McLoughlin
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    Jul 29th 2017, 9:52 AM

    Still use my nano for runs and the gym , it’s great.

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    Mute Seeking Truth
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    Jul 29th 2017, 9:47 AM

    We had the classic iPod, then our daughter got the nano5 and our son the nano7. His has broken since, but hers still works.
    Would be nice to have an mp3 player not reliant on the internet to give kids to let them have music in their bedroom….tjat did not have a camera, text messaging, etc. In other words, can we have separate devices for each activity? Oh wait….we used to have it that way…..

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jul 29th 2017, 12:57 PM

    @Seeking Truth: I bought my daughter a low tech stereo system and CDs! She loves that the radio never buffers!!!

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    Mute Seeking Truth
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    Jul 29th 2017, 5:04 PM

    @Deborah Behan: she has a CD player and can listen to the radio on her iPod nano. But Spotify makes things tricky!! Looking at a Sonos wireless speaker that runs from an app anywhere in the house so the device can stay downstairs but they are fairly spendy!!!

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    Mute Will Keane
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    Jul 29th 2017, 9:46 AM

    Still have me 2gb nano and 80gb iPod 2nd edition and they are still going strong!

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    Mute wiklagirl
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    Jul 29th 2017, 10:30 AM

    I still use my 120gb iPod. Long may it last !

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    Mute WilhelminaMCallaghan
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    Jul 29th 2017, 9:32 AM

    I wish I had any iPod

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    Mute Mr. Dragmire
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    Jul 29th 2017, 11:12 AM

    I won an iPod nano 4th gen in college in 2004. I wasn’t into music really turn so I gave it to my sister who was. A few years later she gave it back when she got a phone that could store music. I used it for podcasts and music then. In 2010 I got an iPod touch 4th gen and used that instead. A couple years ago I gave the iPod nano back to my sister and she uses it for music in her car. It’s a great little device.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    Jul 29th 2017, 1:07 PM

    What’s a Walkman ??? :) I’m still hauling a record player around with a long extension lead :)

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    Mute Melina Roberts
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    Jul 29th 2017, 12:09 PM

    I have the first Generation IPod, took great care of it and think I even have the original box for it.I’m hoping it will be worth something in the future

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    Mute Revolting Peasant
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    Jul 29th 2017, 10:57 PM

    @Melina Roberts: It probably will be. Apple recalled them a few years back due to battery issues and replaced them with a newer version (the small square thing whose button always breaks). If the screen wasn’t broken we wouldn’t of sent ours away. It was the original classic design.

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    Mute ivan lynch
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    Jul 29th 2017, 10:20 AM

    Pity…
    very tough to get a device these days that children want and can satisfy parents at the same time.

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    Mute Alan Scott
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    Jul 29th 2017, 1:42 PM

    Over rated over priced just like VW Audi cars.

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    Mute Rui Firmino
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    Jul 30th 2017, 12:02 PM

    @Alan Scott: I got a nano 9 years ago and still works fine. Worth every cent!

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    Mute Ger
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    Jul 29th 2017, 3:13 PM

    I had a 5th gen Nano about 10 years ago. It was a perfect piece of kit and had I not lost it it would probably still be my preferred way to listen to music.

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    Mute Eamonn Sheen
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    Jul 29th 2017, 2:21 PM

    I had a 160gb iPod classic and have an iPod touch but never use it now. I use Spotify on my phone as my main source of music these days.

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    Mute Lily
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    Jul 29th 2017, 6:00 PM

    I waited for the first generation iPod touch. I still have it (though for a time I thought I lost it and got a 4th or 5th generation iPod touch and found the 1st generation one a few days later.)

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    Mute Leitrim303
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    Jul 29th 2017, 7:28 PM

    never liked apple devices

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    Mute Ciaran O Reilly
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    Jul 30th 2017, 7:59 PM

    Classic

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    Mute Charles McCarthy
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    Jul 29th 2017, 8:08 PM

    I have a one of those iPod classics U2 edition jobbys somewhere in the house, never even been used as I can’t find it. I’m sure that it is a great little device when it turns up! : O

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    Mute Gary Mason
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    Jul 29th 2017, 7:55 PM

    Never owned an Apple product and never will.

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    Mute George Roche
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    Jul 30th 2017, 8:11 AM

    My neck’s killing me carting this boombox about.

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