Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin made a splash at SXSW with an onstage interview and a visit to Ireland House — an activation organized by Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the national agency for Irish film Fís Éireann.
I happened to be at Ireland House and interviewing Enterprise Ireland’s new CEO Kevin Sherry, when the Taoiseach came to meet with startup founders and folks in the film industry.
His SXSW stop is part of a whirlwind tour that includes a visit to the White House. This morning, the Taoiseach attended a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast at Vice President J.D. Vance’s residence and is expected to meet with President Trump.
The tour comes at a critical time for Ireland, a small country of about 5 million people that ranks sixth globally for foreign direct investment in the United States.
Taoiseach Martin spoke about the economic relationship between the U.S. and Ireland while onstage at SXSW; it’s a relationship that could be affected by the reciprocal trade tariffs that the Trump administration is directing toward the EU, of which Ireland is a member.
The Taoiseach’s stopover at Ireland House focused on founders and film, not politics. And many of those founders are connected to Enterprise Ireland, a government agency that supports the development of Irish-owned companies into new markets, including the U.S. Enterprise Ireland is no slouch either. Sherry told me the agency has a fund that invests in between 150 and 180 early-stage startups each year.
