Putting the word « Irish » in front of a company or product name adds value. Irish publications on Irish history and culture are also systematically on distinct shelves in the bookshops, under the name “Irish”.
Irish grown, PS we’re irish, Proud to be irish, proudly irish, Made in Ireland, icon of the flag on the packaging, those are declarations not of nationalism, but of national pride, it is not the same. Ireland is an island as I have already written, and this is the first thing to understand when you arrive, and it will also be the last thing to think about when the plane takes off or the ferry departs. This pride can be national or insular, when it comes, for example, to promoting in shops the vegetables of Northern Ireland, Ireland is a vague concept, I’m telling you, as “made in Ireland” also refers to all the food that comes from Northern Ireland, and we must not forget that Ireland remains an agricultural country, even if the share of GDP due to agriculture has fallen in the last 50 years. It must be understood that this idea of terroir remains rooted in the Irish, both the residents and the diaspora.
The fact that Pfizer will soon start producing the covid vaccine in Ireland has been picked up in all the newspapers of course. For the record, Pfizer was until now best known to the Irish, because the Viagra is produced here, one of the most famous products made in Ireland in the whole world! Generally speaking, every time a company establishes in Ireland, the newspapers announce the precise count of the number of jobs that this will bring to the country, even if it is in the order of, say, 37. The accounts are done to the nearest unit here, it is the village side of Ireland. Most gems of the Irish industry have recently passed into the hands of foreign investors, to the great displeasure of the Irish. Among others, Jameson belongs now to Pernod-Ricard, Guinness to Diageo, the mythical Sudocrem cream to Bain Capital (a zinc cream, a legend of its own!, you can find it in all Irish bathrooms), the famous AVOCA chain which is full of Irish crafts (it’s a must!), to Aramark. As for the Jacobs Biscuits, the whole planet has forgotten that it was originally an Irish creation.
In this context, it must be understood that, notwithstanding its notorious reputation, the Irish are all the more proud of their flagship 100% Irish, a small company that has become a global success in the space of a decade: RYANAIR!
Cahiers d'Irlande 