What NC Gov. Josh Stein did on trip to Ireland combining business and UNC sports

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Top ‘o the morning to you, and welcome to our Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Capitol bureau chief Dawn Vaughan, and this edition focuses on the governor.

Democratic Gov. Josh Stein is back from Ireland — a trip he announced after he was back in North Carolina. His office described the trip as promoting the state “as a top state for economic development investments and tourism while in Ireland for meetings with Irish officials and executives.”

However, there was no mention of the UNC football game, in which the Tar Heels defeated TCU, or his travel timeline.

So I asked.

Yes, Stein was there. He actually went to two sporting events.

Answering my questions about the trip, Stein’s office said he arrived in Ireland the morning of Aug. 28 and met with Geraldine Byrne Nason, the Irish ambassador to the United States, and Peter Burke, minister for enterprise, tourism and employment. Stein also went to the UNC women’s soccer game Friday, the day before the football game.

Stein grew up in Chapel Hill. For his higher education, he chose Dartmouth College and Harvard University.

Stein “completed business activities” the evening of Aug. 31, according to his office, after touring the Irish company Uniphar, which has its U.S. headquarters in Garner.

I’ve got a public records request in for more information, including Stein’s exact travel itinerary, who else went on the trip and travel receipts. I’ll share more when I have the records.

Here’s more of what Stein did on the trip:

Three Irish companies that have expanded in North Carolina over the past year are Eaton Corporation, Linde and Wayflyer. The governor’s office reports that there are 48 Irish companies in the state, employing more than 7,000 people.

In April, Aer Lingus joined other airlines in offering nonstop flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to Dublin, if all this talk of Ireland makes you want to go see the Emerald Isle across the pond. The big game Stein attended was called the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

One more technical note about Stein being out of the country, which he did not announce ahead of time: According to state law, if the governor is out of state, the lieutenant governor is acting governor. Democratic Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt holds that office.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to listen to our Under the Dome podcast. I host new episodes on Tuesdays. You can also watch our podcast recordings on The News & Observer’s YouTube page. On our latest episode, I was joined by former longtime Associated Press statehouse reporter Gary Robertson.

Reach me at [email protected] or the entire politics team at [email protected].

This story was originally published September 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline “What NC Gov. Josh Stein did on trip to Ireland combining business and UNC sports.”