Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar touted the connections between his country and Seattle tech heavyweights such as Amazon and Microsoft during a quick visit today, and said he’s looking forward to still more.
“There’s so much going on between Ireland and Washington state, and we hope it grows in the years ahead,” he told GeekWire during a luncheon at the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit at Seattle Center, hosted by Irish Network Seattle.
The visit was part of Varadkar’s first U.S. visit as prime minister, a governmental role that’s better known in Ireland as Taoiseach. When Varadkar took on the role in June, he made history as Ireland’s first openly gay head of government, and the first with Indian heritage. The 38-year-old physician is also the youngest person to become Taoiseach.
Today’s one-day visit was sandwiched tightly between other meetings that Irish officials had scheduled in California this week. Despite the time crunch, Varadkar managed to make stopovers at the headquarters of Microsoft and Amazon as well as at other Seattle attractions. He got a glimpse at Amazon’s 90-foot-tall Spheres, and a walkthrough of the Chihuly glass exhibit guided by artist Dale Chihuly himself.
