HARRISBURG — Several Pennsylvania state lawmakers and Shapiro administration officials are on a junket in Ireland this week, a trip that will be capped off by a high-profile NFL game in Dublin on Sunday.
The multiday trip, the attendees or their spokespeople told Spotlight PA, is to encourage economic development and cooperation between Pennsylvania and Ireland. It comes amid a state budget impasse that’s left schools, counties, and nonprofits in a lurch.
It's unclear how many lawmakers attended the trip. Spotlight PA identified four: state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), state Rep. Joe McAndrew (D., Allegheny), state Sen. Devlin Robinson (R., Allegheny), and state Rep. Mary Jo Daley (D., Montgomery).
Daley and Robinson sponsored legislation last session to create a Pennsylvania-Ireland Trade Commission, which they now co-chair. Ward and McAndrew are not members.
All four lawmakers say they paid for their own expenses.
“I am a member of the 2026 NFL Draft Host Committee who just so happens to also bleed black and gold,” Ward said in a statement. “This trip is an opportunity to combine work on behalf of two things I am immensely proud to represent — Pennsylvania and Steeler Nation.”
Tim Potts, a former Democratic legislative staffer turned good-government advocate, criticized the lawmakers for attending such a trip during a budget impasse that has stretched to three months.
“In the absence of other priorities, they should be here doing their jobs, and they need to convince me, as a citizen [and] taxpayer, that it is necessary for them to do this at this time,” he said. “And they haven't done that.”
According to a draft agenda seen by Spotlight PA, the commission’s five-day itinerary includes visits to the Irish and Northern Irish parliaments, Trinity College, and the Jameson distillery. The trip will end with a “VIP Event with [the Pittsburgh] Steelers” and their Sunday game in the city.
The members of the Shapiro administration, including Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger and two lower-level staff, are also in the Emerald Isle. Their trip was paid for by taxpayer money.
The DCED trip, agency spokesperson Justin Backover said, is separate from the commission's trip and includes meetings with representatives from “nearly 15 Irish companies.”
Privately, the Shapiro administration told staff this week to avoid all unnecessary travel due to the budget impasse, according to emails viewed by Spotlight PA. One of the emails also noted that cabinet members should not cancel existing travel arrangements if doing so would incur fees or other additional costs.
The three officials will attend the Steelers game on the dime of Team PA, an economic development nonprofit that does not reveal its donors. It has also paid for Gov. Josh Shapiro to attend a number of high-profile sporting events, including two Super Bowls.
The governor and all administration officials are subject to a gift ban that prevents them from accepting tickets from people who are trying to influence state government decisions. The governor's office has argued that Team PA, which holds state contracts, is an exception to the policy.
Siger and staff attendance at the Steelers game, Backover said, will “promote the Commonwealth on the national stage, foster relationships with business leaders from around the world, and win investments that further boost our economy.”
Pennsylvania has lax ethics laws that allow public officials to collect limitless gifts as long as they report any over a certain threshold.
‘A tribute to Pennsylvania’s deep Irish roots’
The 15-member Pennsylvania-Ireland Trade Commission is made up of three state lawmakers and people appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. They include a former lobbyist, the president of Slippery Rock University, two members of the Rooney family (who own the Steelers), and multiple business executives and consultants.
The group is tasked with encouraging mutual economic support and investment between the commonwealth and Ireland.
“Through the creation of the Ireland Trade Commission, we are building a platform for economic growth and cultural exchange,” Robinson said in a statement after Shapiro signed the commission into law last October. “This initiative is a tribute to Pennsylvania’s deep Irish roots and a forward-looking commitment to mutually beneficial opportunities for our state and Ireland.”
The commission can fundraise to reimburse members for participating in its duties. Private fundraising efforts were discussed during a June meeting of the commission, according to meeting minutes. Daley and a Robinson spokesperson said it hasn't been done yet.
According to those same meeting minutes, Pittsburgh Steelers executive Dan Rooney, a member of the commission, told participants that he would be holding a VIP reception during the trip.
A spokesperson for the Steelers did not respond to a request for comment on the reception.
International trade missions have a long, bipartisan history in Pennsylvania, and public officials defend them as a way to encourage economic growth and cooperation. According to a DCED fact sheet, Irish companies have 16,719 employees in Pennsylvania.
But academic studies of such missions across the globe have found mixed results and questioned whether they are a good use of public resources.
“For public support to be justified, we have to make a case that there are positive spillovers from these relationships. … We have not established the presence of spillovers and this remains a subject for further research,” one 2017 working paper on trade missions concluded.