When Martin Shanahan, the head of Ireland’s foreign development agency, told CNBC’s Squawk Box that the country’s currency was the euro, it came as a surprise to hosts of the popular business show.
About six minutes into Monday’s interview, the financial discussion became a lesson on the differences between Ireland and the countries that make up the UK.
Shanahan repeatedly clarified that Ireland uses the euro, while the UK – which he had to explain was a separate country from Ireland – uses the pound sterling. It resulted in the following exchange:
CNBC: What? Why would you do that?
Shanahan: Why wouldn’t we do that?
The Squawk Box hosts were also curious about how such a small country had produced so many good golfers and whether the country’s tax policy had anything to do with it.
“It is the environment that is probably doing that,” Shanahan said. “It is a pretty good place to live and visit and everything else.”
CNBC co-anchor Joe Kernen, who recently visited Scotland, concluded that the differences between the UK and Ireland were “too confusing”.
