Ireland front page in China

Xcellor

Was sitting down to eat my breakfast here in Beijing and was surprised to see Enda Kenny staring back at me.

There is a front page article of China Daily (and also another paper that I didn't read) about the visit and inside the newspaper a picture of Xi kicking a football. Along with this there is a feature on a massive development that is proposed for Athlone (I remember Mary O Rourke on the radio talking about this before).

Also article on Tip crystal. All in all nearly 2 pages dedicated to Ireland.

Good exposure for Ireland.

patwicklow

Big vulture flying over Ireland be more like it, as there here ready to buy up state assets at rock bottom prices nothing else didn't see any of them over here in the boom time,and they say the Irish have there eyes wide open!

NakedNNettles

patwicklow wrote: »

Big vulture flying over Ireland be more like it, as there here ready to buy up state assets at rock bottom prices nothing else didn't see any of them over here in the boom time,and they say the Irish have there eyes wide open!

What state assests did they buy?

As far as I know they signed some trade agreements with our country.

Xcellor

patwicklow wrote: »

[...] didn't see any of them over here in the boom time,and they say the Irish have there eyes wide open!

Probably because it was prohibitively expensive to set up shop during the Celtic boom. Land prices were massive. Construction costs massive. Employment costs massive. Euro very strong - its value is now 20% less than it was during the boom years. Significant savings are available along with low corp tax.

500 billion foreign investment expected from China in 2015. A small slice of that would do Ireland well.

southsiderosie

Xcellor wrote: »

Was sitting down to eat my breakfast here in Beijing and was surprised to see Enda Kenny staring back at me.

There is a front page article of China Daily (and also another paper that I didn't read) about the visit and inside the newspaper a picture of Xi kicking a football. Along with this there is a feature on a massive development that is proposed for Athlone (I remember Mary O Rourke on the radio talking about this before).

Also article on Tip crystal. All in all nearly 2 pages dedicated to Ireland.

Good exposure for Ireland.

Kenny also made news in the US last week; he was up here in Boston, and gave a speech at Harvard. You can watch it online here; I tried, but he talks so slowly I couldn't sit still past the first 10 minutes.

Guill

Xcellor wrote: »

Probably because it was prohibitively expensive to set up shop during the Celtic boom.

Wasn't this all planned during the boom???
There was talk of it stopping when the crash hit...

patwicklow

Massive development that is proposed for Athlone, how long will it be before we see the sweat shops popping up all over Ireland?

NakedNNettles

patwicklow wrote: »

Massive development that is proposed for Athlone, how long will it be before we see the sweat shops popping up all over Ireland?

What are you rambling on about ...sweat shops.....you mean gyms is it?

Sure we have had those in Ireland for decades.

Itsdacraic

patwicklow wrote: »

Massive development that is proposed for Athlone, how long will it be before we see the sweat shops popping up all over Ireland?

And who'll work in these "sweat shops"?
Up until recently it was hard enough to get people to work for our fairly generous minimum wage.

AlmightyCushion

patwicklow wrote: »

Massive development that is proposed for Athlone, how long will it be before we see the sweat shops popping up all over Ireland?

Never. Or at least not until either our labour laws or the definition of the word sweatshop changes massively.

efb

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Never. Or at least not until either our labour laws or the definition of the word sweatshop changes massively.

Don't bring logic into a hyperbole debate!

There going to leave us naked and roaring with not a penny left!!!

mike65

If China says we'll spend in Ireland everyone bar the odd nutter will see it as a good thing. This isn't Africa they won't be buying up say tracts of land for fracking exploration nor will they be funding new railways/roads. It'll be a much less dramatic relationship based on trade deals and exploitation of the corporation tax rate.

Atilathehun

Jack O Connor, is moving his HQ, to China, where he will be properly appreciated as a great defender of the masses:cool:

conorhal

Itsdacraic wrote: »

And who'll work in these "sweat shops"?
Up until recently it was hard enough to get people to work for our fairly generous minimum wage.

Don't worry, the Chinese will import their own labor, like they do in Africa and everywhere else that their neo-colonial experiment is booming.

foxyboxer

I for one welcome our new Chinese overlords.

femur61

Atilathehun wrote: »

Jack O Connor, is moving his HQ, to China, where he will be properly appreciated as a great defender of the masses:cool:

Jack will get a land down to earth when he sees how the Chinese do business.

Atilathehun

Looks like the Chinese will be competing with the Indians http://www.independent.ie/national-news/bid-to-woo-indian-tourists-with-dublin-bollywood-film-3026313.html

patwicklow

Itsdacraic wrote: »

And who'll work in these "sweat shops"?
Up until recently it was hard enough to get people to work for our fairly generous minimum wage.

Generous minimum wage goes to show you probably never worked for the Generous minimum wage!:rolleyes:

NakedNNettles

conorhal wrote: »

Don't worry, the Chinese will import their own labor, like they do in Africa and everywhere else that their neo-colonial experiment is booming.

How do you mean 'import' regarding Africa, do they get their own people to run businesses there? I could understand at the higher levels of management but surely not the lower positions.

Can you give me an example?

Apparently with the one child policy in China, families are having more disposable income for spending on luxury items, a lucrative market indeed.

Glad to see Ireland is making steps in the right direction.

Atilathehun

NakedNNettles wrote: »

How do you mean 'import' regarding Africa, do they get their own people to run businesses there? I could understand at the higher levels of management but surely not the lower positions.

Can you give me an example?

Apparently with the one child policy in China, families are having more disposable income for spending on luxury items, a lucrative market indeed.

Glad to see Ireland is making steps in the right direction.

"turning the corner"

Icepick

patwicklow wrote: »

Generous minimum wage goes to show you probably never worked for the Generous minimum wage!:rolleyes:

Goes to show you have no idea how much a minimum wage worker costs an employer and how much value they generate.

bbam

patwicklow wrote: »

Big vulture flying over Ireland be more like it, as there here ready to buy up state assets at rock bottom prices nothing else didn't see any of them over here in the boom time,and they say the Irish have there eyes wide open!

Mother of god not everything is bad news...
We should be delighted to do business with one of the worlds up-coming markets.. the Chinese have money to spend and we badly need to do business with anyone who has money to spend...
I just hope that FG/LAB have the gumption to get things moving and trade happening...

mike65

With this visit and the return fixture happening so soon it looks like Ireland is Chinas "most favoured" in Europe.

goose2005

As far as I know, there are rules in Chinese TV that whatever the top govt leaders do is always the first items on the news, even if it's not very important. So if the future President is visiting some backward island west of Europe, then it gets front page.

cooperguy

What is the massive development in Athlone? Is there any detail on what is planned?

southsiderosie

NakedNNettles wrote: »

How do you mean 'import' regarding Africa, do they get their own people to run businesses there? I could understand at the higher levels of management but surely not the lower positions.

Can you give me an example?

The Chinese generally bring their own laborers in for large infrastructure projects, mainly because they are seen as harder working. This has caused a great deal of tension with local workers who are often facing terrible employment prospects otherwise. In addition, a lot of the major infrastructure projects they have build are already falling apart (this is also the case in mainland China).

The Economist did an interesting piece last year highlighting some of these issues:

Once feted as saviours in much of Africa, Chinese have come to be viewed with mixed feelings—especially in smaller countries where China’s weight is felt all the more. To blame, in part, are poor business practices imported alongside goods and services. Chinese construction work can be slapdash and buildings erected by mainland firms have on occasion fallen apart. A hospital in Luanda, the capital of Angola, was opened with great fanfare but cracks appeared in the walls within a few months and it soon closed. The Chinese-built road from Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, to Chirundu, 130km (81 miles) to the south-east, was quickly swept away by rains.

Business, Chinese style

Chinese expatriates in Africa come from a rough-and-tumble, anything-goes business culture that cares little about rules and regulations. Local sensitivities are routinely ignored at home, and so abroad. Sinopec, an oil firm, has explored in a Gabonese national park. Another state oil company has created lakes of spilled crude in Sudan. Zimbabwe’s environment minister said Chinese multinationals were “operating like makorokoza miners”, a scornful term for illegal gold-panners.

Employees at times fare little better than the environment. At Chinese-run mines in Zambia’s copper belt they must work for two years before they get safety helmets. Ventilation below ground is poor and deadly accidents occur almost daily. To avoid censure, Chinese managers bribe union bosses and take them on “study tours” to massage parlours in China. Obstructionist shop stewards are sacked and workers who assemble in groups are violently dispersed. When cases end up in court, witnesses are intimidated.

Tensions came to a head last year when miners in Sinazongwe, a town in southern Zambia, protested against poor conditions. Two Chinese managers fired shotguns at a crowd, injuring at least a dozen. Some still have pellets under healed skin. Patson Mangunje, a local councillor, says, “People are angry like rabid dogs.”

It's not clear what spillover benefits the proposed Athlone project would bring, but if there are to be any, the Irish government is going to have to play hardball with the Chinese. I doubt that will happen.

thebman

cooperguy wrote: »

What is the massive development in Athlone? Is there any detail on what is planned?

http://www.athlonelive.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1686&whichpage=2

Post of the picture and an article in the next post on the forum about it too.

Xcellor

In the paper here it says that 2/3rds of the work force for the athlone project would be Irish/EU nationals.

The scale of the project seemed incredible. 175 million going into first phase.

Even if it employed 0 irish workers a project of this scale would generate lots of construction jobs, support jobs, tax revenue, prsi contributions. Also it sets a precedent which other Asian countries may follow.

Good news story. Sadly some decide to see the negatives in everything. Sad. Sad indeed. I wonder if people just started to be more positive about Ireland and its prospects how much quicker we could get out of this hole.

The Internet Explorer

A great bunch of lads.

Guill

A midlands Airport in on the cards then to service this. Great boast for jobs in the local area. There were countless meetings between developers and locals and the locals only stopped objections when the developers agreed that a minimum of 66% of the workforce would be Irish.

Still, some planks will protest through their own ignorance.

maninasia

Xcellor wrote: »

In the paper here it says that 2/3rds of the work force for the athlone project would be Irish/EU nationals.

The scale of the project seemed incredible. 175 million going into first phase.

Even if it employed 0 irish workers a project of this scale would generate lots of construction jobs, support jobs, tax revenue, prsi contributions. Also it sets a precedent which other Asian countries may follow.

Good news story. Sadly some decide to see the negatives in everything. Sad. Sad indeed. I wonder if people just started to be more positive about Ireland and its prospects how much quicker we could get out of this hole.

Yes, I mean Athlone is obviously turning down so many other multi hundred million Euro investments. They can afford to pick and choose.
Get real folks, an exhibition centre has a low environmental impact but an excellent economic impact for the local area. This project has merit.

Atilathehun

Guill wrote: »

A midlands Airport in on the cards then to service this. Great boast for jobs in the local area. There were countless meetings between developers and locals and the locals only stopped objections when the developers agreed that a minimum of 66% of the workforce would be Irish.

Still, some planks will protest through their own ignorance.

St. Kieran, had the same problem when he built the round tower in Clonmacnoise. Locals objected left right and centre. It was only when the Luke Mings great, great, great, great, great, grandfather got involved, the the work got started. Our Ming, has some pedigree:cool:

thebman

maninasia wrote: »

Yes, I mean Athlone is obviously turning down so many other multi hundred million Euro investments. They can afford to pick and choose.
Get real folks, an exhibition centre has a low environmental impact but an excellent economic impact for the local area. This project has merit.

Someone always objects to any planning application so no real surprise a large one will get more complaints.

Another multi-national company in Athlone was trying to expand recently and got delayed by 3 months because of planning complaints despite being in an industrial area and having an existing facility.

Foghladh

thebman wrote: »

Someone always objects to any planning application so no real surprise a large one will get more complaints.

Another multi-national company in Athlone was trying to expand recently and got delayed by 3 months because of planning complaints despite being in an industrial area and having an existing facility.

That proposed chinese development is a longtime in the offing and a longtime in the preplanning. I know the initial planning for the prelim works only went in about 8 or 9 months ago but I heard tell about it 3 or 4 years ago if not more and it was pretty far advanced at that stage. At the time of the last election it was rumoured that it might be sprung as a government secret weapon to bolster confidence but it never materialised. I'd say the planning around this project has got belts and braces on it.

washman3

Time to bring back "light touch regulation" :D:D