BOSTON COLLEGE, WHERE Enda Kenny is due to speak in a week’s time, has cited his ”significant role” in the “Celtic Tiger era of economic growth” in a profile on its website.

The reference to Kenny’s time as Minister for Tourism and Trade in the Rainbow Coalition of the 1990s states that he helped strengthen Ireland’s trade position internationally “thus playing a significant role in Ireland’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ era of economic growth”.

The Taoiseach has previously described the Celtic Tiger era as “false years”, telling TIME magazine last October: “They were built on a veneer of endless wealth without hard work.”

In that interview he went on to say that he wanted to go back to the period of the late 90s “when Ireland was creating a thousand jobs a week” and was recognised for its competitiveness. “That’s where we need to get back to,” he said at the time.

Kenny’s appearance at 137th annual Boston College Commencement Exercises next week has proved controversial with Boston archbishop Cardinal Sean O’Malley saying he would not be attending the event because the Taoiseach is “aggressively promoting abortion legislation” in Ireland.

The profile of Kenny on the Boston College website also claims that he has “articulated a vision of Fine Gael as a party of the progressive centre, focusing on the rights and responsibilities of all citizens, while also demonstrating his concern for social justice”.

Read: Boston cardinal says he will boycott event because Enda Kenny is going

Taoiseach in October 2012: The Celtic Tiger years were false years

Previously: “People simply went mad with borrowing”