Taigh-Eireann Summit

[Taigh Ur]

Stirling Airstrip

Russell Douglas had never been very fond of the Stirling Airstrip. It was designed mainly for small plane, private jet, and helicopter use; it's use as a diplomatic landing strip was originally a secondary concern. It was, in a word, small; there were no large terminals with 747s taxiing up and down the runways. Instead, there were two perpendicular runways and a few hangers for private planes, without much else. It was certainly not the grand display of national power that most diplomats were likely used to.

On the other hand, he thought to himself, it's a very nice kind of small. This was true; while it was not very big, the Airstrip was certainly well-kept. If an airstrip had the ability to be aesthetically pleasing, the Stirling one would be just that. The hangers were clean and well-painted, the landscaping around the airstrip was as green as was feasible, and the surrounding area could only be described as picturesque. Russell had that much to say for Stirling: it was certainly very pretty.

He wiped away a bead of sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, and checked his watch. He was ten minutes early, just as he had intended. He had absolutely no intention of making the Foreign Minister of Eireann wait. As Secretary Barrowman had made abundantly clear that morning, a good first impression for a fellow Celtic nation was of singular importance. He could only hope that he could meet expectations.

 

[Éireann]

Notified that they were about to enter final approach to Stirling Airstrip and to fastens his seatbelt, Angus, looks out the window of the government jet. Below he see the a picture postcard landscape, but once he makes out the airstrip he is glad that he had been assigned one of the new long range executive jets rather than one of the larger converted airliners as he couldn't see anything very large being able to land at Stirling.

After a perfect landing, O'Donell, exits the plane and is immediately greeted by a man that seems to have been waiting. O'Donell and his aides approach the man.

"Dia duit agus an barr na maidine duit! I am Angus O'Donell, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of Éireann."

 

[Taigh Ur]

Damn, Irish Gaelic, thought Russell, I never learned Irish Gaelic. Screw it, just go with it! He extended his hand in greeting.

"Pleasure to meet you. Russell Douglas, Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs. The Secretary apologizes that he was not here to meet you in person; he was called into a cabinet meeting this morning, and felt it appropriate to send me here in his stead. He will, of course, be meeting us at Stirling Castle, which we can head to presently, if you'll just step inside." He gestured to the open limo door.

***

Scot Barrowman was far more relaxed for this meeting than he was for his one just days prior, for several reasons. Firstly, this was a fellow Celtic nation, and thus likely to be friendly; secondly, he knew that he could hand the Foreign Minister a glass of Scotch without accidentally embarrassing the poor man; and finally, this was not his first diplomatic visit. He was certainly not complacent, but neither was he overly nervous.

A sharp rap at the door let him know that the diplomat had arrived. An aide opened the door and, just like the time before, he dismissed the Undersecretary and welcomed in the foreign emissary.

"Welcome to Taigh, Minister O'Donell. Won't you take a seat and make yourself comfortable?" He moved towards the bar.

"Care for a Scotch?"

 

[Éireann]

O'Donell shook hands with Secretary Barrowman, then sat and made himself comfortable. O'Donell smiles when he is offered a Scotch. Ah! A civilized drink. Not good Éireann whiskey, but definately close enough.

"Scotch? I wouldn't mind at all. Thank you."

Now with drink in hand and in a confortable chair, O'Donell is ready to get down to business.

"Mr. Barrowman, I would like to first say that, on behalf of His Majesty's government, I thank you for this meeting. I would also like to stress that if a country can be judged solely on the quality of their libations, our two countries will get along quite well."

O'Donell lifts his glass and toasts his host.

"Now, sir. What shall we begin with?"

 

[Taigh Ur]

Barrowman returned the toast, unable to suppress a welcoming grin. Now this is a man who knows his way around whisky. He took a sip himself, the familiar smokiness loosening him up.

"First of all, let me just say how fantastic it is to find another man who appreciates a good glass of Whisky. Just between us, I've seen some foreign diplomats - and I won't name names - who can't seem to handle anything except their local swill.

"In seriousness, though, we do have some things that we feel might interest you. To put it simply, our nation is interested in expanding our oil and natural gas exports, and we like to make a point of approaching friendly nations about the possibility of importing Taighan. That being said, the Prime Minister has already authorized me to enact a Free Trade Agreement with Eireann, provided you have something that we need. Now, I don't want to be rude and start listing resources, so I'll simply ask this: what do you make too much of for you to use yourselves?"

 

[Éireann]

"Mr. Barrowman, I too am authorized to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement. I will also say I will not turn down any prospect of access to oil and natural gas even though we do have domestic reserves our own, having access to the Scandian Seas, but what we are interested in access to iron and high grade coal and other minerals, and also certain argriculural products and lumber. In return we have a extensive fishing fleet as well as a ship building industry, which is why we are looking for iron to turn into steel. We also look to export certain machinery, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, clothing, and we also have a breweries and distilleries that turn out products that I am confident Taighans will find exceptional, and based on my personal experience your fine whiskey, you will find very receptive customers in Éireann."

 

[Taigh Ur]

Barrowman took a breath. "My," he said, "that is quite a list." He took a quick - but not too quick - sip.

"Well, I can certainly say that we would be interested in whatever your brewers and distillers have to offer; your general quality must be nothing short of exceptional, based on your tastes. As for what we can offer you, we do have a growing agricultural surplus, and we have been looking for an incentive to continue our vibrant farming community. Exporting to your nation would, I believe, do just that.

"As for iron, to put it simply, we have more of it in our hills than we could ever use. Exporting would give our mining industry a welcome boost."

 

[Éireann]

O'Donell takes another sip of whiskey when he hears that Taigh had extensive iron deposits.

"Well, Mr. Barrowman, your countrymen will be just as happy with what our distillers and brewers have to offer as my countrymen will be of your's as I am sure both will be of each other's manufactured goods. But before we get too far into that, what I would like to dicuss is maning and the extraction of oil and natural gas."

Taking another sip, O'Donell smiles to himself as he realizes that at this rate, both he an Barrowman could be past out drunk before any agreement is signed.

"If it is allowed, there are Éireann mining and petroleum companies that would love to invest in Taigh iron, and other ores, and oil and natural gas production, both by investing in Taigh companies as well as Éireann companies establishing themselves here in Taigh. Is this something that can be negotiated?"