Irish-Scottish Forum: In the National Interest? Culture and Economy in Ireland and Scotland

Irish-Scottish Forum: In the National Interest? Culture and Economy in Ireland and Scotland
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This is a past event

On Friday 16 November, and Saturday 17 November, the AHRC Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen will host a meeting of the Irish-Scottish Forum, which brings academics, policy makers and business leaders together to discuss issues of joint concern in Ireland and Scotland.

In 2007-08, the theme of the Forum will be the relationship between economic and cultural development will focus on the development of Irish and Scottish economies since the 1980s, the ways in which they have reshaped conceptions of national identity, and the possible interaction of cultural and economic development in the future.

Keynote speaker on 16 November will be Sean Dorgan, Chief Executive of the Investment and Development Agency Ireland since 1999. Dorgan played a central role in shaping the Culliton Review of Industrial Policy in 1991 and in implementing its recommendations, which have led to Ireland’s rapid industrial and economic development. Dorgan has since led IDA Ireland to ongoing success as one of the world’s leading inward investment agencies, especially for global companies in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), in Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare and in International Services. It is also the largest exporter of software in the world.

Alongside Dorgan will be Robert Crawford, former Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise and now of Glasgow Caledonian University, who has argued that Scotland needs to have the same kind of tax regime as Ireland if it is to compete effectively in the international marketplace.

Other speakers include:Professor David McCrone (Director, Institute of Governance, Edinburgh University); Professor Frank Barry (Professor of International Business and Economic Development, Trinity, Dublin);Dr Hilary Tovey (Sociology, Trinity; convenor of CORASON, a Cognitive Approach to Rural Sustainable Development);Tom Inglis (Professor of Sociology, University College Dublin; author of Moral Monopoly: The Rise and Fall of the Catholic Church in Modern Ireland); Robin Harper (Co-Convenor of the Scottish Green Party).

The Forum will commence at 5.15 on Friday 16th (tea and coffee will be available from 4pm), followed by a reception and dinner at Ardoe House Hotel. It will reconvene at 9.15 on Saturday 17th and conclude with lunch at 1pm.

For further information, contact Professor Cairns Craig, Director of the AHRC Centre, on 01224 703124 or cairns.craig@abdn.ac.uk

 

 

Venue
University of Aberdeen