Bertie, Burke: Irish politicians all look the same to the Chinese

Bertie Ahern tends to fly under the radar these days. Given that he's viewed by many as chief fall guy for the State's economic crash, this is probably wise.

Nonetheless, cultivating such a low-profile appears to come at a price.

Earlier today, he was introduced to delegates at a Dublin conference as the former Irish prime minister, Christy Burke.

He had been invited to speak at the event, which had been organised and paid for by the government of the Guizhou province in south west China.

To be fair, the three-time taoiseach took the faux pas in his stride, chuckling to himself as he walked on stage, before assuring Chinese delegates that Irish attendees would enjoy the gaffe.

Mr Burke, however, wasn’t there to witness his temporary elevation to former taoiseach. Dublin’s newly ensconced Lord Mayor had been scheduled to attend the event but got delayed after attending a funeral in Belfast.

When later told of the slip-up, he seemed quite amused, saying he'd love to have the same pension entitlements as the former Fianna Fáil leader.

Since exiting high office, Mr Ahern has accepted a number of speaking engagements in China, mainly at the invitation of the Ireland China Co-operation Council, an agency set up to foster closer economic ties between the two countries, .

Today, he spoke about the rapid economic transformation currently under way in the once-poor Guizhou province, comparing it to Ireland’s transition from a largely agrarian society to a modern, high-tech economy.

However, he did acknowledge there was a bit of scale difference between Ireland and China.

“You’re almost 1.4 billon,” he said directing his comments to the Guizhou governor, Kezhi Zhao, “while we’re sitting about five million…so you have to understand…in terms of size”.

“But that doesn’t stop us want just a small slice of the action,” he went on

“A small slice of the action would help a lot of Irish companies and I do hope we can develop more and more contacts.”

Mr Ahern wasn’t the only speaker to play up the supposed similarities between Ireland’s economic path to modernity and China’s current shift from manufacturing giant to innovation powerhouse.

Perhaps it’s time to start worrying again when Ireland starts being viewed as an economic model to emulate.