A Week in Washington with Marc Strathie

The responsibility to be the IoD Northern Ireland representative was something that I took seriously and making sure our members’ voice was articulated to all key political leaders in attendance was a top priority for me.

The weeks prior to my visit were shrouded in geopolitical tensions for the United States and it was hard to predict what the US-Irish relationship would look like at the end of this week and, at the time of writing this blog, it is still somewhat uncertain what the months ahead will bring.

The first day of events kicked off with a session in partnership with Queens University and the Smithsonian Institute on the topic of “Divided Communities: Difficult Histories”. The Smithsonian, National Museum of American History was one of the most impressive museums I have ever seen, therefore it felt particularly fitting for this topic. The audience heard from the fantastic Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, in which Secretary Bunch shared his insights on presenting difficult histories in museums and the duty museums have as a learning institute for citizens and communities across the globe.  All panel members agreed that our history, however troubling, can be integral to shape our future and take those lessons forward.

One of the big announcements of the week took place at this very event when Minister of Communities, Gordon Lyons, made a pledge of over £750,000 for the Ulster American Folk Park in County Tyrone – strengthening cultural and heritage links between Northern Ireland and the United States. IoD Northern Ireland member, Kathryn Thomson CEO, National Museums Northern Ireland was part of this important discussion and gave an update into some of fantastic activity taking place across Northern Ireland, and placed huge emphasis on the role of collaboration locally but also internationally, which was a theme welcomed warmly by Secretary Bunch, who spoke of his love for Northern Ireland and a desire to visit again.

That afternoon, it was on to the Washington Economic Partnership building for a session with colleagues across at InterTradeIreland, the all-island connector, to bring together businesses, academics, and business support ecosystems to drive greater prosperity across the island of Ireland. The event opened with an address from Chief Executive, Margaret Hearty, who spoke of the work taking place across the island and with US partners.  The theme of the discussion focused on the shared success that has been achieved through cross-border and US/Ireland economic collaboration.  It was particularly important to learn of some of the funding mechanisms that are open to our members in Northern Ireland and how they can benefit from some of the all-island funding initiatives that IntertradeIreland lead on.

The evening ended with the inaugural Queens University and Dublin City University Dinner. Some particularly important insights on the funding model for higher education moving forward in Northern Ireland and the role of even greater business/academic collaboration in the future, but it was clear that the appetite was very much there for this ambition within the room. It was great to talk to stakeholders from Queens University around the IoD Northern Ireland Skills Action Plan and some of the actions being taken by our partners at Queens University around entrepreneurship and artificial intelligence.

As I made the short stroll back to my hotel, my levels of excitement and anticipation grew for the Wednesday, the White House Social.

That morning, I wanted to make sure that I kept as up-to-date as possible on the discussions between the President, the Vice President and the Taoiseach. Things began in a somewhat interesting fashion when the discussion on inflation took an amusing turn when Mr Vance’s shamrock-patterned socks suddenly caught the President’s attention. Things quickly went back on to more serious topics around the looming threat of tariffs on Europe. Under the UK’s post-Brexit settlement with the EU, Northern Ireland remains part of the UK’s customs territory, but has to apply EU customs and other goods-related laws. This arrangement, now referred to as the Windsor Framework, means there is no ‘hard’ border on the island of Ireland and no customs or regulatory controls on goods moving between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which is part of the EU’s customs territory.

If the US continues to look towards further tariffs for EU goods, while sparing the UK, differences in the tariff rates applied to EU and UK goods may have important implications for Northern Ireland. There is a chance that US Customs may decide to step up checks at their border if they suspect that goods originating in the EU may be routed through Northern Ireland to avoid a higher tariff on EU goods. This could cause delays, uncertainty and additional administrative burdens for legitimate exporters in Northern Ireland.

After an hour-long discussion for the benefit of the press, Trump and Martin’s subsequent private bilateral lasted just 10 minutes, underlining the emphasis the President puts on meetings in front of the media. The Taoiseach will leave the United States in the coming days and, similarly to UK Prime Minister Starmer, he will likely view this as a successful visit. Taoiseach Martin had to navigate some rather difficult topics of discussion earlier in the day before addressing the White House Social audience. Martin will no doubt have work to do in the coming months to continue carefully managing US/Irish relations but, for now, he can enjoy his upcoming St Patrick’s Day celebration on Monday 17 March.

As the daytime discussions drew to a close, it was time to get ready for the White House Social. We were treated to some traditional Irish dancing as we entered the building and, just as the sun began to set, it was time for the hotly anticipated speeches from President Trump and Taoiseach Martin. Both speeches took on a more light-hearted tone and reflected on golf, Irish/American cultural heritage and the tradition of the Shamrock exchange. Taoiseach Martin took time to speak to a wide range of stakeholders in attendance and IoD were particularly grateful for our short discussion with him.

Collaboration and partnership were the two concurrent themes running through the week and this was exemplified by our engagements with Ministers from across the full island of Ireland, stakeholders in the United States and partners from across other jurisdictions in the world with Irish heritage. A particular thank you to all of our members for their insights throughout the week and the invitations to various engagements that were kindly extended to the Institute of Directors.

I look forward to taking forward a number of the discussions from this week and if anyone would like to discuss any aspect of the week in further detail, please contact me at [email protected]