Society 379

Ireland: A Land of History,
Culture and Innovation
SOCIETY Magazine spoke with the Ambassador
of Ireland, H.E. Eoin O’Leary, about the Irish-
Austrian relationship, the age of digitalization
and the effects and challenges of Brexit.
Austria and Ireland have long-standing
ties. What are the key areas in
which the two countries are currently
cooperating and on which areas
would you, as Ambassador, like to
work on?
Both countries have very long-standing
relations indeed. Saint Virgil, who
settled in Salzburg in the seventh century,
was Irish, as well as St. Coloman,
who was the patron saint of Austria for
several hundred years. Furthermore,
during the Habsburg Monarchy, a
whole range of Irish military officers
and officials came to Austria after
fleeing Ireland during what was known
as „The Flight of the Wild Geese“.
Nowadays, we share many common
policies. We are both militarily neutral
for instance and we are both members
of the European Union. Austria and
Ireland have both benefitted greatly
from the process of European Integration.
In addition, both countries
have pursued policies that encourage
enterprise and innovation. Regarding
cooperation, I would like to see Irish
food and drinks and Irish business making
further advances in the Austrian
market. We have world class beef and
dairy products and I look forward to
introducing these to the Austrian consumer.
I would also love to see more
Austrian tourists visiting Ireland. Before
the COVID-19 crisis, Ireland was
receiving around ten million tourists
Fotos: SOCIETY/Pobschnig
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