In a letter to the paper’s editor, Ireland’s Ambassador to the US called it “name-calling and national stereotyping”.
The Irish Ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall has slammed a New York Times columnist’s use of the word “leprechaun” in an article about Ireland as an “unacceptable slur”.
Columnist Paul Krugman recently penned an article for the New York Times titled “Yellen’s New Alliance Against Leprechauns” about Ireland’s corporate tax regime.
In the article, he wrote: “So let me tell you about Apple and the leprechauns.”
Describing multinational companies’ impact on Ireland’s gross domestic product, Krugman in the article used the term “leprechaun economics”, which he had previously coined.
He states that the term stuck and that “fortunately, the Irish have a sense of humor”.
However, in a letter to the New York Times, Mulhall (pictured above) took issue with Krugman’s use of “leprechaun”.
The Irish Ambassador wrote: “This is not the first time your columnist has used the word ‘leprechaun’ when referring to Ireland and I see it as my duty to point out that this represents an unacceptable slur.
“I do not go along with Mr. Krugman’s disingenuous excuse that ‘the Irish have a sense of humor’ about his attacks on us,” before adding: “derogatory references in a leading newspaper like yours are no laughing matter.”
On the topic of corporate tax reform, Mulhall also said: “Further agreement in this area cannot be arrived at through name-calling and national stereotyping.”
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