Let Irish in UK subscribe to RTE, suggests letter writer
Monday, June 22nd, 2009Irish people in the UK should be allowed to subscribe to RTE, according to a letter writer in today’s Irish Independent.
R Mullins points out that the possible demise of Setanta Sports looming, Irish GAA fans in the UK are worried. He suggests that people who live abroad should be allowed to subscribe to RTE.
The Irish government had pledged to have RTE International on air in the UK by this past St Patrick’s Day, but RTE nixed the move in November, blaming budget constraints. The 2007 Broadcasting Act required RTE to set up a channel for broadcasting to Irish communities outside the island of Ireland; the legislation authorised for license fees to be used to do so.
Related websites:
Irish Independent letters section
NY Irish centre gets government green light
Monday, June 22nd, 2009An Irish centre that would encompass arts, cultural and business matters in New York City will go ahead, according to an article in the Irish Echo. The center has been a matter of discussion for many years, with Gabriel Byrne spearheading the publicity drive.
The Irish goverment’s commitment to the centre was confirmed by Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen. He said the government would give 170,000 to the centre for an initial planning phase; the centre will ultimately cost as much as $30 million. Cullen noted that the planning process would take a number of years and that by the time it was ready to build he hoped that an upbeat economy would ease funding.
The newspaper quoted from its interview with Gabriel Byrne last summer, in which Byrne described his vision for the centre:
“A new center would encourage not just the importation of current Irish culture, and diverse current Irish culture, but would encourage the development of a unique Irish American cultural voice, this while we would have the place to do it which is also a business center, where people from Ireland could come in and do business, where Irish people could get together socially,” was how Byrne described the proposed center.
“Of course it’s a sensitive time economically to be asking for money. But this is the best time to invest, not just in this notion of an Irish identity and culture, but in the brand of Ireland.
“It just needs a commitment from the Irish government to support this. The government are behind it, in theory. It just needs that final push to make it happen. You really have to envision it as a temple on the hill. We would have to make a place of welcome, not just for Irish Americans. It would reach out to all cultures, a place of light and welcome,” Byrne said at the time.
Read the article in the Irish Echo: Center’s a go
Diaspora is ‘Facebook for the nation’, says McWilliams
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009An interesting snippet from David McWilliams on Youtube:
Absolutely. I think that if you look at the biggest phenomenon of the last few years… has been social networking. This is Facebook for the nation. It’s for the willing. You don’t have to coerce people. It’s not something that’s exclusive…The tribe in an era of services – the Irish and Americans, we’re not going to end up making stuff in the future. In an era of services, the most important thing is soft power…Branding, networking, contacts – all these issues… And if you look at this, what is more evocative than these ancient, ancestral ties, which are real, which are absolutely real? We could put together an extraordinary network of Irish people which would benefit both America and Ireland.
US-based Irish tech group signs deal with UCD, Trinity
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009The Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG), a Silicon Valley-based group of has signed an agreement with Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin aimed at driving Irish innovation and creating new business opportunities in the US for emerging Irish companies.
According to a press release, TCD Provost John Hegarty, UCD President Hugh Brady and ITLG chair John Hartnett announced a memorandum of understanding on Monday, 15 June to promote technological innovation, and the goals of the recently announced Innovation Alliance between UCD and TCD, through this partnership.
The group also announced a summit meeting at the Irish embassy in Washington DC on 10 September, 2009. This meeting will be aimed at devising a programme of collaboration around a number of areas set out in the memo of understanding:
- To explore and advance new mechanisms for business creation and scaling for Ireland
- To explore creation and management of a dedicated technology venture capital fund
- To partner on the delivery of innovation training to the student body of the Innovation Alliance, through case study presentation and mentoring of project work within the Innovation Academy.
ITLG chair John Hartnett said, “In the midst of Irish and US economic turmoil, there has never been a more important moment to foster and invest in technological innovation. ITLG is delighted to seize the opportunity to pursue that objective in partnership with Ireland’s premier research universities through the Innovation Alliance”.
Related webpages:
- Press release – Businesswire.com: Silicon Valley Tech leaders sign innovation accord with Ireland’s leading universities, plan US-Ireland Summit for Washington DC
- Irish Technology Leadership Group
- UCD
- TCD
- Press release announcing establishment of TCD- UCD Innovation Alliance and Innovation Taskforce (March 2009)
Diaspora strategy reports, principles of good practice published by NIRSA
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009A series of papers on diaspora strategies has been published by the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis at Maynooth University. The papers have been published in conjunction with the “Exploring Diaspora Strategies: An International Comparison” workshop, which was held in January this year.
The workshops included speakers such as Yevgeny Kuznetsov of the World Bank, Ray Bassett of the Irish Abroad Unit, Gurucharan Gollerkeri from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Alan Gamlen of Oxford University, and Mark Boyle, Rob Kitchin, and Aine O’Neill, all of NUI Maynooth.
In one of the reports, “Exploring Diaspora Strategies: Lessons for Ireland”, authors Delphine Ancien, Mark Boyle and Rob Kitchin make a number of recommendations under the following headings:
- Administrative structures in support of diaspora strategy making
- Building infrastructure, building new bridges: creating and fostering information flows and portals
- Extending citizenship: offering welfare assistance to diasporeans living abroad
- Building diasporic Irish-mindedness
- Encouraging philanthropy to support Ireland
- Developing business and knowledge networks
- Encouraging return migration and providing return facilitation services
- Developing an affinity diaspora
The reports include:
- Exploring Diaspora Strategies: An International Comparison
- Exploring Diaspora Strategies: Lessons for Ireland
- The NIRSA Diaspora Strategy Wheel and Ten Principles of Good Practice
- The Scottish Diaspora and Diaspora Strategy: Insights and Lessons from Ireland
Download the reports from the NIRSA website.
Web tool allows for cultural comparisons
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009An interesting tool for would-be migrants, expats and international business executives: Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions tool, which is aimed at providing insight into other cultures to enable better results. The tool allows the user to compare his or her home culture with the host culture on five dimensions:
- Power Distance Index – measuring expectation of inequality.
- Individualism – the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups
- Masculinity – measuring role distribution
- Uncertainty Avoidance Index – dealing with tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity
- Long-Term Orientation
Visit the Geert Hofstede website.
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