Daniel Mulhall

Retired Irish Ambassador. Director, Ex. Fellow @magdalenealumni, Ex. @GIHNYU. @yeatssocietyirl. @dla_piper Enq: [email protected]

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

As this is behind a paywall, here is the text of my response @WSJopinion

“Dominic Green took to these pages not to praise Ireland but to bury it (“Ireland Is a Wounded Tiger,” op-ed, Dec. 8). He wrongly slights a good and prosperous country. His misperceptions are manifold. 
First, Mr. Green’s claim that we demand the U.K. “surrender” Northern Ireland is preposterous. It flies in the face of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, negotiated by the British and Irish governments, brokered by the U.S. and supported by the Irish people. We recognize national unity requires popular consent.
Ireland supposedly has an “immigration crisis,” Mr. Green writes, never mind that much of the influx is designed to supply the needs of U.S. multinationals. He casts the country as crime-ridden, though the data belie him again. The Central Statistics Office in July reported that the number of recorded crime incidents fell for eight out of the 14 offense groups between 2024-25. Homicides and Burglary, among others, both declined. Ireland ranks second on the Global Peace Index. 
Mr. Green pins his diatribe on a Dublin City Council proposal to rename Herzog Park. Yet the council quickly withdrew that motion after many Irish people and the government sharply criticized it. The country, along with several others, has recognized a state of Palestine: a decision anchored in sympathy for the plight of ordinary Palestinians, not animus toward Israel. The Irish government has welcomed and supported President Trump’s peace plan, and Irish peacekeepers work with the U.N. to maintain stability in Southern Lebanon.
Mr. Green’s takes aim at Ireland’s economy as a member of the European Union, but the target is small. The economy grew 2.6% last year, on a par with the U.S. Ireland continues to be a location of choice for American companies because it offers unhindered access to the European market. The 800 or so U.S. firms operating here are successful and profitable. They benefit from a highly educated workforce and fair and transparent tax system. The relationship is mutually beneficial: Ireland is the fifth-largest source of foreign direct investment in the U.S. and continues to expand its footprint in the states.
Contrary to Mr. Green’s dystopian sketch, our economy is humming along. Like much of the rest of the world, Ireland faces headwinds, but its people are nothing if not resilient. After all, since 1776, millions of Irishmen and women and their descendants have helped make America great through their labors.
Daniel Mulhall
Dublin
Mr. Mulhall was Ireland’s ambassador to the U.S., 2017-22. “

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

‘Don’t listen to reports of Ireland’s demise’. A link to my contribution to @WSJopinion correcting the falsehoods about #Ireland peddled by British commentator Dominic Green earlier in the week. Thanks to @WSJ for giving me space to set the record straight. https://t.co/M6mqpEDPYf

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that extraordinary negotiation, but if it delivers the goods credit will be due. #Diplomacy https://t.co/cg9m82kpaE

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

Bhí mé ar Fóram @rte inné ag plé ceisteanna atá bainteach le aontacht na hÉireann. https://t.co/yZn8d0O9Fr

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

One of the features of Shinnecock Hills GC, current host of the @USGA Open, founded in 1891, was that it had women members from the start. The club produced the sport’s first woman star, Beatrix Hoyt. Our host in the Hamptons, Mallow native, Sharon Lynch, has written about her life & golf career. https://t.co/T2ZfUZZgEK

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

One of the features of Shinnecock Hills GC, current host of the @USGA Open, founded in 1891, was that it had women members from the start. The club produced the sport’s first woman star, Beatrix Hoyt. Our host in the Hamptons, Mallow native, Sharon Lynch, has written about her life & golf career. https://t.co/T2ZfUZZgEK

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

This is setting up to be a battle of wills between Trump & Netanyahu. Expect Trump to prevail. https://t.co/Z8c7Zh53EM

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

Scotland battled hard against a hugely-talented Moroccan team last night. They suffer from the same liability as @FAIreland - a lack of quality players. A few more Scott McTominays and they’d be more in the mix. Had Ireland qualified, Scottish & Irish fans would have been competing for top spot!

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

This critique of @LeoVaradkar is over the top. What’s wrong with leaving politics at the top? It’s rare but hardly shameful. He’s among a long list of ex-politicians joining the private sector. It’s healthy to have crossovers between public & private sectors. As for being a nationalist (pride in & commitment to a nation), people everywhere share that (watch the World Cup for evidence). The complaint against Leo Varadkar seems to be that he defended Ireland from the risks posed by #Brexit. That was his job. Here’s my considered assessment of him. https://t.co/hv2QawtQvO

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

This critique of @LeoVaradkar is over the top. What’s wrong with leaving politics at the top? It’s rare but hardly shameful. He’s among a long list of ex-politicians joining the private sector. It’s healthy to have crossovers between public & private sectors. As for being a nationalist (pride in & commitment to a nation), people everywhere share that (watch the World Cup for evidence). The complaint against Leo Varadkar seems to be that he defended Ireland from the risks posed by #Brexit. That was his job. Here’s my considered assessment of him. https://t.co/hv2QawtQvO

[Ruth Dudley Edwards @RuthDE]

A charlatan, I fear. "He quit politics in 2024 but a life in the corporate world should suit former taoiseach Leo Varadkar just fine" https://t.co/7UYqhVt2Bn

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

@IrishFarmer001 @USAmbIreland @SecRubio Yes, of course.

[Ted Smyth @TedSmyth]

@RTEOne is an outstanding source of independent news and commentary

[Glasgow for Europe @GlasgowEurope]

Barnier has “remained convinced that the UK had made the wrong choice in leaving the EU and that the evidence for that was becoming clearer “every day”. @TheGuardian https://t.co/gikkjhMoQR

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

The big players are really turning up in this #WorldCup. Messi 3 goals, Mbappé 2, Haaland 2 and now Harry Kane 2. England look to be in the mood, but so do France & Argentina.

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

Living in America for 5 years, taught me that retirement does not have to be a full stop. I have tried to treat it as a comma with another few clauses to come I hope. I see an active life as a recipe for health & happiness at least for me, but others may well take a different view of retirement.

[Seán Kelly MEP @SeanKellyMEP]

Catching up on an excellent article by @brendapower in #SIndo . She says, ‘Just as youth is wasted on the young, retirement is often wasted on the old’. Correctly she references @DonaldTrump @MickJagger & @PaulMcCartney all flying it still in their 80’s ! Pension crisis coming down the tracks if people retire when ‘society’ either expects or demands of them to do so . Rethink for the sake of economy needed ! I think if I didn’t know my age , I could still be playing for @KilcumminGAA , thanks be to God ! They say , hard work , never killed anyone but as Brenda points out retirement has !! As Brenda wrote , ‘We need to up our game ‘ !!!

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

Agreed. This seems to be a bend on the road for NATO, probably with no going back to the comfortable transatlantic relationships of the past.

[Nicholas Burns @RNicholasBurns]

Sorry. This is no way to lead NATO. The European allies are ready to help open the Strait of Hormuz and are far ahead of us in supporting Ukraine against Putin. Be grateful.

[The Irish Times @IrishTimes]

🔺Six of Ireland’s eight universities have moved up the rankings of the world’s top universities, according to the latest global survey.

🔺The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world rankings compare the performance of the world’s top 1,500 universities across 106 countries.

🔺Trinity College Dublin remains the highest ranking university in Ireland, coming in at 75th for a second year in a row

See the full list here: https://t.co/phnaRhpxV9

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

@aigne_aighne I have written about Joyce’s politics many times. Here is an example: https://t.co/JX6lhRzP4v

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

In #Ulysses, the words “England is in the hands of the Jews” are spoken by the school Principal, Mr Deasy in Episode 2. Deasy, who exhibits a full suite of prejudices is certainly not depicted as a typical Dubliner. There is anti-Semitic prejudice on display in the Cyclops episode but Joyce’s main target there is what he saw as one-eyed nationalism.

[Ronan McGreevy @RMcGreevy1301]

Joyce’s Dubliners believed Britain was “in the hands of the Jews,” who controlled its money and press.
McAleer is conflating a literary conversation in Ulysses with a universal sentiment in Ireland in 1904. He neglects to mention that Daedalus pushes back against this description. "A merchant is one who buys cheap and sells dear … Jew or gentile, is he not?”

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

@fosandair I have written many times about such Joycean issues. Here is an example: https://t.co/JX6lhRzP4v

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

@Science4Christ That may be true but the number 1 variable between NI & the rest of the UK is the Protocol & WF. Although its weight can be debated, to deny the positive influence of the Protocol/WF would be perverse.

[Daniel Mulhall @DanMulhall]

This seems to suggest that the arrangements in the Protocol & the Windsor Framework have benefited Northern Ireland. 👇

[Reuters @Reuters]

Northern Ireland tops UK's economic growth charts since Brexit vote https://t.co/NfGQuqZ9Uk https://t.co/NfGQuqZ9Uk