St Patricks Day in New York is something everyone should see once. I was once told that about 500,000 New Yorkers can claim Irish ancestry. Each 17 March, it feels more like a few million.
For us, St Patricks Day brings in visitors from Northern Ireland, including Shaun Woodward MP and Martin McGuinness MP MLA. With progress in the peace process, promoting Northern Ireland falls largely to the local offices of the Northern Ireland Executive. The Consulate helps with the promotion of Northern Ireland as a great place to invest. We hosted Arlene Foster, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, at an event that brought together American business people and Northern Ireland trade officials.
I spent the first half of St Patricks Day itself in New Haven, spending time at Yale University with colleagues from UK Borders Agency. The Points Based system has thrown up a few questions for American academics, students and researchers wanting to visit or study in the UK. We’re trying to get the message out as widely as possible that the new system is manageable- and that it really helps to look carefully at the guidance and to get the paperwork right.
Generally, this blog is about what we do outside the Consulate- after all, who really is interested in budget arguments, sorry discussions? But a fair bit of my working life is spent dealing with the people issues that an office of just over 100 people generates; and the associated housekeeping. This week we bid farewell to the 2009/2010 year of Mountbatten interns. At any one time we have about a dozen Mountbattens working for us. We get a huge amount from having them here (reducing our average age by about ten years). And they tell me that they find their year with us rewarding too. So goodbye Clarice, Emma, Suzi, Craig, Max, Cat- and good luck for the future. A warm welcome to your successors.
Next blog- sport, including some ill-advised athletic activity by the author.