The Emerald Isle was on fire in 2015, growing GDP by 7.8% and winning 213 foreign direct investment projects. Martin Shanahan, head of Ireland’s economic development agency, said attracting international business has been a cornerstone in Ireland’s recovery strategy following the 2008 global financial crisis. ‘It’s a combination of those who have already invested, reinvesting into Ireland and 93 of those were companies who were investing into Ireland for the first time,’ said Shanahan. ‘Foreign direct investment is a big part of the Irish growth story.’ Of course, some of those foreign deals were tax inversion plays by U.S. companies seeking to lower their tax burden. And the flow of those deals has not let up in 2016, despite the strategy being widely denounced on the campaign trail. For example, auto-parts maker Johnson Controls (JCI) and Tyco (TYC) announced a merger in January that will relocate the combined company’s headquarters to Tyco’s current home in Cork, Ireland. ‘I’m not concerned about any backlash, companies make commercial decisions for a good reason,’ said Shanahan. ‘Companies internationalize for good reasons. They are seeking market. They want to be in Europe.’
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