INSULAR IRELAND IS ALIVE AND WELL !

I love elections. Not just Irish elections - but elections on a global scale. Democracy is a fragile soul – a waif-like creature who is only allowed to give her blessings to one third of the worlds estimated six billion populations.
For that, we should be both grateful and ashamed. Grateful for what we have in democracy for all of its faults. Ashamed that as a member of the United Nations, we participate in a sham of so-called representation of all the worlds sovereign states, and yet allow five of the great powers dominate and control the agenda. An agenda that is designed to ensure that democracy will never will never reach the remaining four billion people on the planet.
I could go on about the United Nations and the veil of silk it wears to hide the running sores but you probably would get as completely pissed off reading about it as we do writing about it.
Instead, let us focus on the American primaries for the US presidential elections in November. It is certainly one of the most exciting races in years, particularly the Democratic nomination contest. Anti-post favourite, Hillary Clinton, looks in grave danger of being caught on the final uphill furlong by Obama. John McCain on the Republican side looks home and dry having at one point early in the campaign being on the verge of quitting because of lack of funding.
So what does all of this mean for us here in Ireland?
A good friend of mine surprised me during the week when questioned about his views on the US elections. He claimed to have no interest in them at all, stating that we had enough to do about running our own country to be wasting time watching the Americans go through their admittedly torturous procedure of electing their President.
The reason for our surprise was that this was intelligent guy who ran his own business, which supplied outsourced computer services to about ten multi-national companies in the medical and pharmaceutical fields. Eight of the ten companies were American!
Yet this businessman professed no interest whatsoever in the policies or promises of any candidate in relation to Ireland. He felt that once the peace process in the North had settled in there would be no interest in Ireland by American politicians, as they had no gains to make by making Ireland an issue.
If he had taken the time to study the matter, he would realize that the opposite is true. Ireland is an issue but not in the beneficial sense. Hillary Clinton has long promised that if she gets into power she will impose a 30% tax on American multi-nationals who base themselves in low tax environments to avoid paying US taxes.
Any American companies based in Ireland only pay 12.5% tax on profits to the Irish state coffers at present and none in the US as there is a place a bi-lateral taxation agreement in place between the two countries.
Whether Clinton is elected or not will not matter. The US is heading into deep recession and whether it is McCain or Obama who occupies the Oval office instead of Clinton, making wealthy foreign-based companies pay more tax at home is a popular proposal.
American companies are well known for artificially boosting their profits in a low tax regime such as Ireland. If they are going to be hit with a 30% tax on those profits this country will suddenly become a much less attractive place to do business.
The grey suits in these companies will do the numbers and arrive at a cold ruthless conclusion; there are better places to be than here.
I thinks it is time that our good friend starting taking a more active interest in American politics!