Ireland’s Global Greening is over, but the Great Global Scattering of Ministers is only warming up
timing was impeccable. Sure, marrying a Yes-Yes result to the platitude-strewn aftermath of International Women’s Day was the aim, but a No-No defeat landing within smelling distance of March 17th has one clear upside: every single glum ministerial face can now scarper abroad.
Other representatives of the State will be venturing overseas in the name of Ireland’s most celebrated snake-banisher – some 35 others, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs – with the March travel extravaganza now a fully embedded chunk of the political calendar.confirming that it will no longer operate the Global Greening campaign that saw landmarks around the world illuminated in Kermit-esque shades of our national colour.
The genius of the Global Greening lay in its simplicity. As a spectacle, it could be repeated from year to year and scaled up, seemingly without controversy. True, the phenomenon said more about the participating countries than Ireland, about which it said nothing much at all, but a touch of showy vapidity has never stopped anyone on social media and that’s where the campaign really flew.
The Government has somewhat defensively described St Patrick’s Day as an “unparalleled opportunity to promote Ireland as a great place to visit, work, study, trade with, and invest in”, which does slightly smack of Irish exceptionalism while simultaneously glossing over pragmatic matters like where those workers and students would possibly find somewhere affordable to live.
Apparently, this will “highlight the impact and achievements of young Irish and diaspora leaders across the fields of innovation, creativity, community development, business and academia”, which sounds lovely and commendable.
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