Where In The World?

at

qmKqOfU

Paddy’s Day Junkets.

Where would you get them?

Out of work mapper Omar Sarhan writes:

I made a map of the countries we are sending our ministers to for St. Patrick’s day, based on reports [link below]. Interactive map here.

Shamrockin’ round the world (Omar Sarhan)

27 ministers to travel abroad for St Patrick’s Day (RTÉ)

Sponsored Link

22 thoughts on “Where In The World?

  1. Spartacus

    In solidarity with the long suffering Irish people, our glorious leaders will travel by budget airline, train and bus before staying in the Travelodge, part-paid with their Tesco Clubcard points.

    Stability and jobs. Going forward.

  2. Sancho

    Australia is a bit small? A proper legend might be helpful. Might be nice if the whole map fitted on one page?

      1. Paolo

        Should we not spend money on “greening” landmarks around the world too? To be fair, the cost of these junkets have been slashed in the last 7 years. It seems like fairly cheap promotion to me. Much cheaper than running ads in the NYT or the SMH.

    1. Freia

      I do. Here’s what happens, on our buck:

      “Tom Parlon: big tipperFormer Progressive Democrat junior minister Tom Parlon left a tip of more than $2,600 (€1,751) to drivers who chauffeured him around Atlanta during a St Patrick’s Day trip three years ago. He subsequently claimed the tip back through his expenses.
      Limousine hire for the week-long US trip amounted to €13,400, with Parlon and his wife Martha running up a €4,200 bill at a hotel where their room cost $800 a night.
      Parlon, who now heads up the Construction Industry Federation, also incurred limousine costs of €5,000 during a trip to Chicago in 2005 and more than €6,000 in South Africa in 2007.
      According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Martha Parlon claimed €528 in travel subsistence expenses when the Parlons and two of his closest aides visited St Louis and Atlanta in March 2006.
      This included a total bill of more than €4,200 for the Parlons to stay at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead hotel in Atlanta, where the pair enjoyed a room costing around $800 a night.” John Downes, News Investigations Correspondent, Tribune

  3. AlisonT

    Great access and profiles for Ireland abroad. These trips are worth millions to Ireland and are great for the Irish organisations abroad.

    1. DaithiC

      Couldn’t agree more Alison. What other country our size has guaranteed access to world leaders and a platform to advertise the country and its businesses on an annual basis? There is huge value for money in these trips.

  4. Ciarán

    Politically interesting to see it all on one map

    Questions:
    whats the significance of the different shades of green?

    why are some places designated as countries and others as cities (surely a minister can only be in one city on St. Pats day, they are not doing a tour of the country in one day!!)?

    1. Omar Sarhan

      The shades of green were purely aesthetic. I figured it would be nice to make a subtle distinction between ministers.
      As for Country vs. City, this is how the data came. I presume that a minister going to Russia or Canada is going to go to Moscow and Ottawa respectively. However, they could be going to St.Petersburg and Toronto, so I decided not to do any assuming and map the data as I got it.

  5. My Daddy is bigger than Yours

    If a long flight and making small talk with local politicians is your idea of fun you need to get a life.

    I’m sure most of them would prefer to be at home with their families;

  6. Spaghetti Hoop

    300k is not a bad outlay IF it actually generates interest and investment.
    And the reporting back is a welcome move as I wouldn’t trust any minister not to turn junketty.

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie