Talk to anyone in Austin and they will tell you what was once the slacker heart and the official capital of Texas has gone supersonic, leading the charge to become one of the top tech cities in the United States while desperately trying to retain a vestige of its eccentricities and charm.
Micheál Martin’s whistlestop visit to the city was at once designed to shine a light on Ireland’s contribution to that transformation while repeating the underlying message that when it comes to Ireland and America, the friendship is the same as it ever was.
The SXSW festival, which is taking place this week, is symbolic of Austin’s unstoppable growth and influx of new money. The international showcase for the creative and technological industry is clinging on to its unfussy, outsider roots, but it’s a star magnet these days: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on Saturday; Nicole Kidman and Ben Stiller a day later.
The Taoiseach was among those to feature on Monday’s speaking schedule. By then, he had already visited the headquarters of Dell, the multinational which has strong associations in Ireland and which is deeply associated with the origin-story of Austin’s transformation, From there, he travelled to Tricentis, the AI-solutions company, to coincide with the announcement of 50 new jobs to be created at the company’s Cork operation over the next few years.
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Those tours formed a prelude to his early afternoon meeting at the governor’s mansion with Greg Abbott, the veteran figurehead of Texas who is the longest-serving incumbent governor of the United States – and has a close relationship with president Donald Trump.
The moseying, retro feel of Austin’s historic district and the bright sunshine formed a kind of psychological barrier between the most substantive few hours of Martin’s US trip, his Wednesday sit-down with Trump in the Oval Office. In Ireland, the meeting has been anticipated in language more akin to a heavyweight boxing preview.
All morning, the Taoiseach cheerfully batted away questions about what, exactly he and president Trump will – and won’t – talk about. But one of the least mentioned conversational gambits concerns one of the oldest themes of the Irish-American story: the netherworld official existence of the undocumented Irish.
“We may very well,” Mr Martin said when asked if that subject will be raised.
“Again, it is very challenging, but President Trump has always been of a positive disposition to try and get issues of that kind resolved. The challenge has always been on the Hill. As you know, with previous attempts at the E3 visa we were unlucky in losing by one vote some years ago in the Senate. So, it is very challenging to get any measure through both houses.”
[ What experts expect to happen when Micheál Martin meets Donald Trump this weekOpens in new window ]
In the pop-up Ireland House – a low-slung brick bar in downtown Austin repurposed as the hub of Irish business and creativity for the week – Mr Martin spoke with several Irish entrepreneurs, including Jane McDaid of Think House, the youth marketing company planning a US expansion.
In blazing sunshine, he spoke in the Pop-Up Gaeltacht, located in the yard. It was all, of course, a positive and polished affirmation of Ireland’s inward investments and interests in the US.
The hope was that the happy mood and message would be conveyed, at some stage, from the interior of Greg Abbott’s office by telephone to Donald Trump in time for the sprig of shamrock, and the obligatory references to Doonbeg golf club – and the reassurances that the green-tinted friendship endures, come hell or high tariffs.
