Dublin is being rubbished by European cities competing to attract firms who decide to leave Britain post-Brexit, the city's Lord Mayor Brendan Carr has claimed.
Speaking at the announcement of Dublin’s strategy to attract businesses seeking to retain access to the European single market after Britain leaves the EU, Mr Carr said it was imperative the “true message” about Dublin be promoted.
The initiative, which was jointly launched by the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, the City Council and Minister of State Eoghan Murphy plans to maximise Dublin’s position as “the only English speaking city” in the EU post Brexit, Mr Carr said.
The Lord Mayor said Dublin was “being bad mouthed” and “challenged” by cities competing for post-Brexit advantage and “if we don’t stand up and start selling ourselves and telling the truth about what Dublin can offer we will end up scratching our heads and wondering where did it all go wrong”.
He said Dublin was “head and shoulders” above its competitors and Ireland was the natural alternative for any business “which needs to keep a foothold in the EU”.
Katie Daughen of the British Irish Chamber said a video promoting the attractions of Dublin in terms of education, infrastructure and as a place to live would be circulated throughout the chamber’s contact network and she encouraged participants to use their own contacts and social media to also “deliver the message”.
Mr Murphy said the Government had begun an intensive diplomatic effort to promote Ireland as well as to secure “the best deal for Britain”.
“We don’t want a bad outcome for Britain.” He said the Government wanted the best outcome for both Britain and the EU.
He said the Cabinet signed off on an international financial services strategy for 2017 on Tuesday and Mr Murphy would be promoting this in Hong Kong next week.
He would he said also be promoting the British Irish Chamber and City Council Brexit strategy while there he said.
The promotional video features a range of commentators including the president of DIT Brian Norton and business leaders highlighting the attractiveness of Dublin as a place to do business.
The accompanying booklet presents key advantages of the city in relation to financial services; infrastructure; access; skills and research and as a location for start ups.
The Greater Dublin’s Greater Than Ever Video is available at
https://youtu.be/3VlJONvhA-Q and the hastag #GDGTE is being used on Twitter.
