Tom O Regan

The text of my letter in @WSJ @WSJopinion in response to Dominic Green’s attack on Ireland earlier this week. “Dominic Green took to these pages not to praise Ireland but to bury it (“Ireland Is a Wounded Tiger,” op-ed, Dec. 8). He wrongly slights a good and prosperous country. His misperceptions are manifold.  First, Mr. Green’s claim that we demand the U.K. “surrender” Northern Ireland is preposterous. It flies in the face of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, negotiated by the British and Irish governments, brokered by the U.S. and supported by the Irish people. We recognize national unity requires popular consent. Ireland supposedly has an “immigration crisis,” Mr. Green writes, never mind that much of the influx is designed to supply the needs of U.S. multinationals. He casts the country as crime-ridden, though the data belie him again. The Central Statistics Office in July reported that the number of recorded crime incidents fell for eight out of the 14 offense groups between 2024-25. Homicides and Burglary, among others, both declined. Ireland ranks second on the Global Peace Index.  Mr. Green pins his diatribe on a Dublin City Council proposal to rename Herzog Park. Yet the council quickly withdrew that motion after many Irish people and the government sharply criticized it. The country, along with several others, has recognized a state of Palestine: a decision anchored in sympathy for the plight of ordinary Palestinians, not animus toward Israel. The Irish government has welcomed and supported President Trump’s peace plan, and Irish peacekeepers work with the U.N. to maintain stability in Southern Lebanon. Mr. Green’s takes aim at Ireland’s economy as a member of the European Union, but the target is small. The economy grew 2.6% last year, on a par with the U.S. Ireland continues to be a location of choice for American companies because it offers unhindered access to the European market. The 800 or so U.S. firms operating here are successful and profitable. They benefit from a highly educated workforce and fair and transparent tax system. The relationship is mutually beneficial: Ireland is the fifth-largest source of foreign direct investment in the U.S. and continues to expand its footprint in the states. Contrary to Mr. Green’s dystopian sketch, our economy is humming along. Like much of the rest of the world, Ireland faces headwinds, but its people are nothing if not resilient. After all, since 1776, millions of Irishmen and women and their descendants have helped make America great through their labors. Daniel Mulhall Dublin Mr. Mulhall was Ireland’s ambassador to the U.S., 2017-22. “