In one of the more bizarre interviews you will see for quite some time, IDA Ireland Chief Executive Martin Shanahan made an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box business show, and had to field a swarm of questions about Ireland being (to the co-anchor's shock) in the Eurozone, and using a different currency to the one used in Northern Ireland.
The interview starts off with a standard enough theme – Apple, Google and the ‘Double Irish’ taxation issue. But things take a bizarre twist a few minutes in when the co-anchor, Joe Kernen, claims Ireland uses sterling. From there it gets worse.
Some of the eyebrow raising questions include: Why have the Euro in Ireland? What about Scotland? Northern Ireland’s the pound? It’s sort of the same Ireland, isn’t it?
And there’s plenty more.
Watch the interview and cringe or chuckle at the repeated corrections of the assertion that Ireland is using sterling, and more.
The fun starts around seven minutes in
