Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan travelling with the Irish consul-general in New York Niall Burgess on the morning rush-hour no 6 subway train yesterday on their way to meet New York city speaker Christine Quinn at City Hall. It was the New York leg of a four-day fact-finding trip to the US.
Today Mr Ryan will favour the train over the plane on a trip to Washington for meetings with a wide range of groups including the European-American Business Council.
He will also meet Ed Markey, chairmanof the House of Representatives sub-committee for telecoms and a member of the sub-committee for energy and air quality, among others.
Tomorrow he meets the Irish Ambassador to Washington, Michael Collins, followed by talks with the Federal Communications Commission and John Kneuer, assistant secretary for communications of the US Department of Commerce.