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Viewing cable 08DUBLIN662, SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF CODEL DODD TO IRELAND

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08DUBLIN662 2008-12-07 10:44 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Dublin
VZCZCXRO0312
PP RUEHBL
DE RUEHDL #0662/01 3421044
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071044Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY DUBLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9625
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0132
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 0094
RUEHBL/AMCONSUL BELFAST PRIORITY 0847
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 DUBLIN 000662 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON ETRD EINV EAIR SENV MOPPS MARR
EI 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF CODEL DODD TO IRELAND 
 
1.  (U) Embassy Dublin welcomes Senator Dodd to Ireland.  The 
Senator will arrive against a backdrop of an Irish Government 
led by Prime Minister Brian Cowen that is facing economic 
woes, uncertain relations with the European 
Union following its rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in a 
referendum in June 2009, and a successful peace process in 
Northern Ireland that the Irish believe continues to advance. 
 
------------- 
Lisbon Treaty 
------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Looming large on the political landscape is the 
Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty referendum on June 12. 
Since then, Prime Minister Cowen has attended two European 
Council meetings, where other EU Heads of Government agreed 
that Ireland needed time to analyze the outcome of the vote, 
consult internally and with other EU member states, and 
devise a way forward for EU reform.  A third meeting with the 
European Council is scheduled for December 11-12, 2008.  In 
the first two meetings, the European Council laid down two 
markers: the treaty ratification process would proceed 
throughout the EU (currently Ireland is one of only two EU 
member states to have not fully ratified the Treaty); and the 
European Council would revisit the issue of Ireland's 
rejection of the Treaty.  Ireland is now on the hook to 
suggest ways out of the dilemma. 
 
3.  (SBU) Cowen has been discretely floating the concept of 
holding a second referendum in late 2009 with political 
"opt-outs" to protect Irish positions on retaining an EU 
Commissioner, neutrality, abortion, and taxation.  However, 
most other EU member states want the Lisbon Treaty to be 
fully ratified before the June 2009 European Parliament 
election so that the election can be held under new Lisbon 
Treaty rules.  Though Cowen hopes for patience and new, 
constructive ideas from the European Council next week, he 
will also be expected to propose a roadmap for the way 
forward. 
 
------------------------------ 
Difficult Economic Times Ahead 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  (U) Until the recent economic crisis, Ireland had one of 
the fastest growing economies in the world over the past 
decade.  Ireland's Celtic Tiger transformation resulted from 
a combination of low corporate tax rates, industrial peace, 
pro-investment policies, fiscal responsibility, and effective 
use of EU support funds.  These factors (in addition to 
staunchly pro-American business policies) have led over 600 
U.S. firms to establish operations in Ireland; the stock of 
U.S. investment in the country is, in fact, significantly 
more than the U.S. combined total in the BRIC countries 
(Brazil, Russia, India, and China). 
 
5.  (U) This year, Ireland's economy began to stumble.  In 
October, the government predicted a budget deficit of 6.5 
percent of GDP and that the economy will contract by 0.8 
percent in 2009.  Those figures already look optimistic given 
the government's early December announcement of a 
worse-than-expected tax revenue shortfall.  Based on those 
numbers, private-sector economists are now forecasting a drop 
in GDP this year and next of between two and five percent. 
The government introduced an austere budget for 2009 
featuring unpopular spending cuts (in health and education in 
particular) and tax increases. 
 
6.  (U)  In addition to the worsening macroeconomic picture, 
the Irish banking system was on the verge of collapse prior 
to the government stepping in on September 30 and 
guaranteeing the liabilities of the six major Irish banks. 
In spite of this guarantee, there is still a worry among 
market watchers that the government will be forced to follow 
some of its European neighbors and inject fresh capital into 
the banking system.  In recent comments, Finance Minister 
Brian Lenihan indicated that he was exploring the possibility 
of a capital injection.  The Irish property market bubble 
burst in 2008 (with prices falling by up to 40 percent in 
some sectors of the market) prompting a worry that the banks 
would end up holding a significant amount of impaired assets. 
 
7.  (SBU) Immigration.  The Irish Government continues to 
consult and lobby with Congress and Irish-American groups on 
behalf of Irish residing illegally in the U.S., variously 
estimated at between 5,000 and 50,000.  A special unit of the 
Department of Foreign Affairs, set up in 2006 to assist the 
Irish Diaspora, assists Irish Ambassador to the U.S. Michael 
Collins in this endeavor.  While the Irish Government 
 
DUBLIN 00000662  002 OF 004 
 
 
understands that Irish illegal aliens will not be dealt with 
separately from comprehensive U.S. immigration reform, the 
Irish take this emotive domestic issue to heart.  Irish 
officials regularly express deep concern for these illegal 
aliens and frequently ask the USG to regularize their status 
as soon as possible.  Ireland has also been a magnet for 
inward immigration, attracting over 100,000 new arrivals 
since the accession of ten new EU Member States in 2004. 
With the economy's slowdown, however, leading economists are 
predicting net migration out of Ireland for the next two 
years at least. 
 
8.  (SBU) Special Visas.  Ireland and the U.S. have 
successfully negotiated a special visa category (a modified 
J-1 visa) which will enable Irish citizens to live and work 
in U.S. for up to one year (a duration longer than currently 
available under existing visa regulations); and vice versa. 
The Irish are impatient to have this new visa program 
actually commence. 
 
------------------------ 
Changes in U.S. Tax Code 
------------------------ 
 
9.  (SBU) The Irish government is concerned about previous 
proposals from President-elect Obama that would reduce or 
eliminate the tax advantage U.S. multinationals receive for 
investing in low-tax jurisdictions overseas.  With a 
corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent a major contributing 
factor, Ireland has attracted a stock of $87 billion in U.S. 
foreign direct investment.  These U.S. companies generate a 
significant portion of the Irish economy's GDP, employment, 
and exports.  Both the Irish Finance and Foreign Affairs 
Ministers have commented publicly that the government will 
lobby against any such change to the U.S. tax code, which 
they see as a direct threat to Irish economic well-being. 
 
---------------- 
Northern Ireland 
---------------- 
 
10.  (U) The USG and the Government of Ireland continue to 
work together to support economic growth in the North and 
North-South Cooperation.  The Irish have told us that the 
USG's consistent position that devolution of policing and 
justice is an important and integral part of the Northern 
Ireland peace process contributed to an agreement between 
Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in November 
2008 on how to achieve devolution.  The Irish were also 
highly appreciative that the USG supported a major investment 
conference in Belfast in May 2008. 
 
--------------------- 
Rendition Allegations 
--------------------- 
 
11.  (SBU) On October 29, the Government of Ireland 
established a Cabinet-level committee to review Ireland's 
human rights policies - giving it a mandate to approach the 
transition team of the incoming Obama Administration to 
review Irish concerns about renditions, the detention 
facility at Guantanamo Bay, and intensive interrogation 
techniques which are considered torture (such as 
waterboarding).  The Committee will also review appropriate 
authorities to ensure that the national police force (Garda) 
and airport authorities have sufficient powers to search and 
inspect all aircraft transiting Ireland which are suspected 
of being involved in renditions, perhaps through 
strengthening the Air Navigation and Transport Acts.  The 
creation of this committee was, in part, at the behest of the 
Green Party coalition partner in government.  While formation 
of the committee is likely to provide greater government 
oversight of human rights concerns, we do not expect it to 
result in aircraft inspections or otherwise adversely affect 
U.S.-Irish relations. 
 
12.  (SBU) Since the issue of alleged renditions broke in 
2004, the Irish have publicly stated that they have accepted 
USG assurances that no rendition prisoners have transited 
Ireland.  Top Irish officials, including the Prime Minister, 
have declared that they would take the USG at its word and 
not pursue inspections of U.S. aircraft suspected of 
transiting Ireland with rendition prisoners without 
sufficient probable cause.  As recently as December 2007, 
then Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and then Foreign Minister 
Dermot Ahern categorically rejected Opposition and Irish 
Human Rights Commission calls for random inspections of U.S. 
aircraft.  Current Prime Minister Brian Cowen, then Minister 
of Finance, supported this position. 
 
DUBLIN 00000662  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
------------------------ 
Guantanamo Bay Detainees 
------------------------ 
 
13.  (SBU) The United States continues its effort to resettle 
17 Uighurs, 4 Uzbeks and other detainees at Guantanamo that 
cannot be returned to their home countries due to inhumane 
treatment concerns.  The State Department is working with a 
number of European countries in an effort to put together a 
group of countries to step forward and resettle detainees as 
a humanitarian gesture.  We have been told in previous 
approaches that Ireland is unwilling to consider accepting 
detainees.  It would be extremely helpful if Ireland would 
consider joining the European group in discussing the 
possible resettlement of these detainees. 
 
--------------------------------- 
U.S.-Irish Strategic Relationship 
--------------------------------- 
 
14.  (U) Cowen announced on July 17 in New York that Ireland 
would conduct a strategic review of relations between the 
U.S. and Ireland, to be led by Irish Ambassador to the U.S. 
Michael Collins.  Irish officials have clarified that the 
purpose of the strategic review is to look beyond the U.S. 
cooperation on the Northern Ireland peace process, identify 
Ireland's key interests in the 
U.S., and determine if the Irish government's resources are 
being best deployed in support of those interests. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Aviation Pre-Clearance at Shannon and Dublin Airports 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
15.  (U) DHS Secretary Chertoff and Irish Transport Minister 
Noel Dempsey signed the completed U.S.-Irish Pre-Clearance 
Agreement in Washington on November 17.  The agreement will 
allow for U.S. customs clearance at Shannon and Dublin 
airports in addition to the already existing immigration 
clearance.  If all goes as planned, full pre-clearance 
(immigration and customs) will begin in Shannon in 2009 and 
in Dublin in 2010.  Shannon airport officials have indicated 
they will break ground on the new U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection facility on January 5, 2009 and will open the 
facility on July 1, 2009. 
 
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Environment/Energy Initiatives 
------------------------------ 
 
16.  (U) Embassy Dublin has a very active relationship with 
the Irish government on environment and energy issues.  We 
worked with various Irish agencies to put together an ocean 
energy workshop in Galway in July 2008, which was attended by 
several U.S.-based companies.  We are also putting together a 
series of visits by U.S. government and private sector 
experts, the first of which is a visit by a DOE official to 
discuss the USG's public sector energy efficiency program. 
We believe that we can effectively partner with the Irish on 
the nexus of environmental/energy issues (including climate 
change, ocean/wave energy, methane capture, and clean coal 
technologies), which would be useful in our broader 
engagement with Europe going forward.  Ireland is very active 
in this area given that they are well above their Kyoto 
Protocol and EU commitments to reduce emissions and they are 
worried about their energy security.  Ireland has extremely 
limited indigenous fossil fuel sources of energy. 
 
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Global and Regional Efforts 
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17.  (SBU) The U.S. and Ireland have worked closely and 
effectively on issues of shared concern, especially through 
Ireland's participation in multilateral organizations such as 
the UN and the EU.  Ireland recently resettled ten Cuban 
refugees sheltering at Guantanamo.  Ireland's military 
neutrality, however, remains an important cornerstone of its 
foreign policy, and will need to be considered when proposing 
bilateral initiatives. 
 
Iraq/Access to Shannon Airport.  The USG appreciates 
Ireland's steadfast support in permitting U.S. military 
transits at Shannon and Dublin Airports (over one million 
troops since 2003; 262,000 in 2007), which backstop U.S. 
actions in the Gulf region, despite the unpopularity of this 
policy domestically.  Ireland has also made a commitment of 
over three million euros to the EU's reconstruction efforts 
 
DUBLIN 00000662  004 OF 004 
 
 
in Iraq. 
 
Irish Peacekeeping/Darfur/Chad.  The Irish Defense Forces 
have nearly 800 troops serving in multilateral peacekeeping 
missions in Kosovo, Chad, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. 
Ireland is contributing 455 troops to the ESDP EUFOR mission 
to Chad, which is led by an Irish General, and sees this 
peacekeeping effort as contributing to the situation in 
adjacent Darfur.  The Irish Government prefers not to expand 
its military engagement in Afghanistan, though it will 
consider additional development and humanitarian assistance 
there. 
FAUCHER