Minister of State Dara Calleary blogs live from the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party Conference

It is important that the Parliamentary Party get together like this once a year and take time out to discuss issues, debate policy and hear from outside experts. It helps to fuel our thinking and fresh ideas and approaches are always welcome.

This morning session at the Parliamentary Party meeting was really interesting. We heard from the Taoiseach who outlined how crucial the period ahead is for our country and how important it was to meet the challenges ahead of the budget, restoring confidence to the banking system and getting people back to work. An Taoiseach told reminded us that Ireland is still a successful country with huge potential for the future.

That was why it was so encouraging to hear the contribution of Jim O’Hara the VP of Intel Ireland who said that he believe that things were better now than they were two years ago and that Ireland is seen as a very positive place to do business. Jim O’Hara pointed out that Ireland has a very educated workforce and a lower cost base than previously as well as good leadership.

Tomorrow we will hear from Frank Daly of NAMA and John Trethowan from the Credit Review Office among others. It is very clear that getting credit flowing again will secure and create jobs and I am looking forward to hearing the contributions of the speakers.

You can watch a video from the first day of the Conference with Minister Batt O'Keeffe here.

Some photos from the first day of the Conference below:

» For more from the party, become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and join our Youtube channel.