This week saw another packed agenda, both at home and abroad. On Monday, I met with the residents of the Annamoe district in Cabra to discuss local matters of interest.
The afternoon was spent between Trinity College and UCD, speaking to students as part of the Government’s EU Jobs campaign. I was joined by representatives from the European Parliament and the Commission, among others, to outline the opportunities that are available to students wishing to work in the institutions or engage in stages. The turnout was huge in both cases as students sought the information and support needed to help them to make their goals a reality.
On Tuesday morning, I met with human rights campaigner, and local constituent, Valerie Hughes in advance of my trip later in the week to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Valerie was joined by representatives of the Bosnian community, who outlined the situation on the ground to me, as they saw it.
That evening I attended a public meeting to discuss the Phibsborough Local Area Plan before heading off to Sarajevo (check out my blog here) the next day. While there I met political leaders, students and NGOs and discussed the progress being made to move the country towards deeper integration of the European Union.
As we strive towards getting the country back to work and our finances back on track, I was pleased to see such an encouraging forecast from the Central Bank, as it revised its growth figures for next year upwards. A worry, however, is the low level of inflation across Ireland and the Eurozone. On the other hand, the good US and UK growth figures bode well for the sale of our goods and services to these vital markets.
Any down time this week was spent reading ‘Ireland through European Eyes; Western Europe, the EEC and Europe 1945-1973’. This has acted as a helpful reminder of the length of the journey Ireland has taken to membership of the EU.