Irish Tax

The post-Celtic Tiger financial district rises high above the River Liffey where the Dublin docklands once bustled with commercial activity. Today these multinational corporations represent an important part of the Irish economy, just as the docklands did in early Irish history.  PwC Dublin claims a stake on the modern quay where voices from the 1916 rising still echo in a nation deeply rooted in rich cultural heritage. My week in Ireland has launched me into preparing for business in a global economy. As my clients start to look across borders and overseas, I am ready to support their international business needs with a global network inside the world’s leading professional services firm.

Upon arriving in Dublin, I drove through Merrion Square past Leinster House (the national parliament of Ireland) and discovered a bustling maritime town with classic Georgian architecture and brightly colored doors. Gold-lettered pubs below red brick buildings shared traditional Irish folk and cotemporary sounds. Beyond the Samuel Bridge and further across South Dublin, I found Dublin Castle—a strong reminder of 1922 when the Republic became a ruling reality. I took a stroll down the lively Grafton Street where modern designers and street performers entertained locals and tourists alike. I wandered through the long corridor of the Old Trinity College Library that houses the oldest and most well-preserved illuminated manuscript of our time: the Book of Kells. I appreciated one of Ireland’s most famous collections of private contemporary Irish paintings housed at the traditional Merrion hotel. I visited the National Museum of Archeology where shriveled and leathery bodies of Ireland’s early Celtic ancestors preserved by the acidic, oxygenless, and cool environment of peat bogs can be seen on display.  A historical tour of the old Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) taught of Irish political heroes who had been imprisoned or executed there under British colonial rule. I visited the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher on the Western Irish coast. I also visited Galway, an old Irish seaport, where the horse races were on that weekend and woman flocked the streets in ornate portrait hats and fascinators.

On the last day of my experience, I had the opportunity to address the Irish Interns at their final internship competition. As I stood on the seventh floor, with a beautiful view of the harbor beneath, I felt Irish. “Everyone is Irish if you go back in their history far enough,” said a manager on my team. But if you can’t seem to find your Irish heritage on paper, the people will accept you just as you are--that’s the Irish way.