Taoiseach to deliver keynote address to IMI conference

TAOISEACH BertieAhern will deliver the keynote address at the Irish Management Institute (IMI) national management conference tomorrow.

He is expected to speak on the economic and political context that facilitates a high performance economy in Ireland.

Mr Ahern is joining some of the country’sleading business names in addressing the conference, which is organised by the IMI.

Other speakers include chief executives such as Tesco’s Tony Keohane, HP’s Martin Murphy,Microsoft’s Paul Rellis and Padraig McManus of the ESB.

Ahead of the conference, IMI chairman Dr Phil Nolan said Ireland is significantly underpopulated for a developed country, and this is having an affect on GDP.

“There are challenges facing us achieving the requisite population level with the right talents.

“We must make Ireland an appealing place to live by focusing on quality of life and addressing a range of issues where we’re currently lagging behind, including health, infrastructure and waste.

“Also we may need to compromise on certain things, for example, space. In terms of population density, we are significantly underpopulated for a developed country.

“Our GDP would be much higher if we had the population density of, say, the UK or Switzerland,” he said.

Dr Nolan, the former Eircom chief executive,will also address the conference. Over 300 business people are expected at the Ritz-Carlton in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow today.