Ireland’s bilateral relationship with the U.S. is built on powerful historical, social and cultural links. Centuries of transatlantic migration have resulted in large Irish-American communities all across the U.S. Almost 32 million people in the U.S. claim Irish heritage, amounting to approximately 10% of the total population.
Our new Embassy in Washington, D.C. is supported by eight Consulates General across the U.S. All nine missions work very closely with Irish State Agencies which have offices in the major economic hubs. Ireland and the U.S. enjoy a significant and mutually beneficial economic relationship. The U.S. is Ireland’s largest trading and investment partner. The economic benefits flow both ways, creating prosperity and jobs for large numbers of people on both sides of the Atlantic. Across the 50 States in the Union, more than 200,000 people are directly employed by 781 Irish companies. Ireland is the fifth largest source of foreign direct investment in the U.S., and the second largest EU source of foreign direct investment in the U.S. after only Germany.
Many Irish companies are also major customers of U.S. manufacturers. For example, Irish aviation companies are Boeing’s biggest customers, with more than 900 planes on order, worth some $120 billion.
EU-IE-U.S. Trade and Tariffs Ireland prioritises and contributes strongly to the EU-U.S. economic relationship, which remains the single most important economic partnership in the world. Every day over $4.5 billion worth of goods and services cross the Atlantic between the EU and U.S. and European businesses have created and sustained 3.4 million jobs in the U.S.
We want to see close, constructive and cooperative relations between the EU and US, recognising that this is what our shared economic prosperity is built on. We will work to stabilise and maintain transatlantic cooperation during our EU Presidency in the second half of this year, where it is appropriate and valuable to do so.
Board of Peace and wider multilateral role Ireland has welcomed the contribution of the U.S., alongside Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye as mediators to end the conflict in Gaza and their efforts to implement the Gaza Peace Plan. We have consistently called on all parties to support these efforts and to honour their commitments under the peace plan.
The Board of Peace, proposed by the U.S. and launched at a signing ceremony on 22 January, however, has a mandate wider than implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan. The UN has a unique mandate to maintain international peace and security, and the legitimacy to bring nations together to find common solutions to shared challenges.
While imperfect, the UN and the primacy of international law is more important now than ever. Ireland’s commitment to the UN and the primacy of the UN Charter is without question. We have received an invitation from the U.S. to join the Board of Peace. We will need to give this careful consideration. In doing so, we will coordinate closely with our EU and wider European partners.
