The Coalition needs to create a second Irish Financial Services Centre (IFSC) devoted to entrepreneurship in response to Donald Trump’s tariff threats, the newly appointed chair of the Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Oireachtas Committee has said. In a presentation to party colleagues, Cork East TD James O’Connor sounded a rare positive note against the gloom of trade wars and deepening US isolationism. Today's top videos STORY CONTINUES BELOW He said: ‘From Trump to [Former European Central Bank President Mario] Draghi, global leaders are signalling a new era of competitiveness. Cork East Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor. Pic: Fran Veale ‘To stay ahead, Ireland must scale innovation and entrepreneurship as core national priorities.’ He added that if Ireland is to have a future as ‘a world-class innovation economy’, the State needs to ‘build a world-class innovation strategy anchored by a central campus – both a symbol and engine of a thriving ecosystem’. Mr O’Connor said the Programme for Government’s promise to build a national start-up hub is ‘a great first step’. But he warned Taoiseach and party leader Micheál Martin that Ireland must now think bigger to respond to external threats to our economic prosperity. Mr O’Connor said: ‘To compete globally, Ireland needs a connected, scalable innovation campus that attracts talent, investment as well as international partnerships.’ He said the capital needs to follow the example of ‘leading European cities [that] are moving forward with large-scale Innovation Districts’. Former Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Charlie Haughey. Pic: RollingNews.ie Mr O’Connor cited the examples of the French ‘€250m stadium of entrepreneurship home to the start-up network Station F’ and Boston, where ‘a thriving innovation hub is driving global breakthroughs in climate tech, biotech, and deep tech – with strong links between academia, startups, and investors’. He said: ‘The IFSC needs a bold regeneration plan – transforming underutilised spaces into a dynamic hub for global business, Government and academia.’ The IFSC, one of former Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Charlie Haughey’s signature achievements, was established in the middle of an economic crisis in 1987 and, Mr O’Connor said, was ‘a visionary initiative that transformed Ireland’. Mr Haughey also laid the foundations for our current corporation tax regime after he secured permission from the EU to create a special 10% tax incentive zone in the IFSC. Dublin’s IFSC. Pic: Getty Images The IFSC is a global finance centre which acts as a major HQ for investment banks such as JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. Referring to the current global economic uncertainty, Mr O’Connor stressed there must be a return to the innovative thinking that created the IFSC. He said: ‘Where present global competitiveness is shifting, Ireland must pivot. We need IFSC-level thinking again [where] vision, policy, and partnership align [and where] Ireland doesn’t follow the world – it leads it.’ He identified the CHQ building and sites around George’s Dock and Dublin Arch, near the IFSC, as locations for the hub, which could become ‘a symbol of a new economic narrative for Ireland; a scalable, district-wide innovation ecosystem for Ireland’s future’. Mr O’Connor told Extra.ie: ‘This is about Ireland keeping pace with a world that is being revolutionised by the pace of change driven by artificial intelligence. ‘It is about making sure our country has the capacity to maximise the return on the talent and innovation that exists within the State.’ Supporters of Mr O’Connor’s proposal said it has the support of several ministers and TDs.