On the plane to New York I met a woman who asked me why all of Ireland’s politicians leave the country for St Patrick’s day.

“It is your national holiday after all, shouldn’t they stay at home to celebrate it?” she asked.

I joked that we were sending them all away to commemorate the fact that St Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland.

But it did get me thinking about whether or not there are any real benefits to sending our ministers across the globe at great expense.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny is one of five ministers in the United States for St Patrick’s day. Other ministers have gone to Brussels, the UK, India and Japan.

When asked about it today Enda Kenny argued that the trips are worthwhile claiming his team of ministers have been given a specific job to do, to promote The Gathering, and to spread the word among investors that Ireland’s plan for economic recovery is working.

There is no doubt that being Irish on St. Patrick’s Day carries a certain currency when you are abroad. You only need to look at the fact that Ireland is the only country in the world with a standing invitation to the White House every year.

It can well be argued that the meetings between the Taoiseach and the President are more to do with photo opportunities than hard politics, but the fact that they happen at all is remarkable.

It is difficult to quantify the exact return on the investment of sending our ministers abroad, but there are a few obvious benefits to the trips:

• Our politicians get quite a bit of media exposure which allows them to promote Ireland as a tourist destination, and an investment location.
• The social side of St. Patrick’s Day gives our ministers the opportunity to do the “soft sell” of Ireland, something we’re better than most at doing.
• But perhaps the best reason for sending our ministers overseas is so they can reach out to Ireland’s emigrants, and let them know that they’ve not been forgotten, even though they no longer live in the country.

Many of the people who now live abroad do so because they can’t find work at home, so its fitting that a state which has failed its people, should reach out to them at least once a year on our national holiday.