Richard Bruton, Irish minister of Enterprise, Employment and Innovation, came to Rennes to conduct a round-table conference which was organized in the Ouest France block (built in 1915-16) in Rennes downtown. The conference was organized by the House of Europe in Rennes, led by Jeanne-Françoise Hutin, the Ouest France newspaper chief executive's wife, and Enterprise Ireland.
Currently, Ireland goes through a restructuring of its economy and financial sector, which begins to make results. Irish companies seek after the development of partnerships in all countries of Europe, especially in Brittany in agro-business and cleantechs. Irish firms are employing 12,000 people in France. The practice of long training periods in Irish companies was introduced less than a year ago and Ireland became an attractive destination for young French and Breton people who look after career opportunities in a country which does not fear economic growth. By the way, for Irish people, French and Breton products are premium goods and Ireland is very interested by the Breton experience (label Produit en Bretagne, association Bretagne International) to promote local enterprise, quality and develop their foreign partnerships.