The President, Mrs McAleese, yesterday banged the drum on the Irish economic miracle to audiences of top US corporations and held out the prospect of even greater progress in the new millennium.
At two functions organised by the Irish Trade Board and the Industrial Development Agency in midtown Manhattan, the President highlighted the economic transformation of Ireland from "an agricultural nation to an island at the forefront of technology".
Later she experienced a less glamorous aspect of the "Celtic Tiger" economy when she visited the Emerald Isle Immigration Centre in Queens which cares for young Irish immigrants who need help to find jobs and lodgings. The local Irish-American newspapers this week carried articles on the tragic suicide of a young immigrant who was employed by a paving contractor and did not have enough money to return home.
The President's full day ended by attending a performance of the award-winning play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, on Broadway and a supper with the cast in a nearby restaurant.
The six-day Presidential trip to the US ends today with a lunch given by Mayor Rudi Giuliani at his Gracie Mansion residence.
Her day began yesterday with a media breakfast in the Plaza Hotel attended by representatives of Irish-American publications. Appearing very relaxed, the President described her meetings earlier in the week with President Clinton and the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan.
At her meeting in Ireland House, which houses the Irish Consulate and the main Irish agencies, President McAleese described the rapid growth in the country's exports to an audience of US customers and the exporting companies. The meeting was organised by the Irish Trade Board.
Mrs McAleese pointed out that the US is now Ireland's third largest national export market. During the 1990s, Irish exports to the US have almost tripled. In 1997 alone, sales to the US increased by over 40 per cent to $5.5 billion.
High technology accounts for over two-thirds of Irish exports. The fastest growing sectors of Irish trade with the US are telecommunications, computer manufacture, pharmaceutical and healthcare, instrumentation and aerospace.
The President said that "the dynamic US economy is, of course, one reason why we are doing record business in America. Another is the fact that we have world-class, competitive Irish companies".
Some of the audience was surprised to be told that Ireland is now number two to the US in the world for the production and export of computer software. It is estimated that Irish exports in this sector this year will be worth about $4 billion.
"By any standard this is a remarkable achievement for a small country. We have become one of the major global players in one of the biggest, fastest growing, most sophisticated and competitive industry sectors," the President said.
Later at the IDA lunch in the St Regis Hotel on Fifth Avenue, Mrs McAleese said that in 1997, "IDA Ireland has recorded its fourth record breaking year in succession with 15,000 new jobs filled and a 10 per cent growth in total employment in companies supported by IDA Ireland".
She described the "immense contribution" which US investors have made to these developments. The over 400 US subsidiaries in Ireland employ more than half of the 100,000 people employed there by foreign companies. The US companies thus employed almost a quarter of Ireland's manufacturing workforce.