Conference says artists have a role in digital age

Parents and educators have been urged “not to knock the creativity out” of young people when it comes to positioning for jobs in the digital age.

The artist will play a key role in the new age, the Ireland’s Edge conference which gathered leading academics, executives, senior company directors, civil servants and artists in Dingle was told at the weekend.

There is going to be “a hollowing out of the centre” and the jobs of today are not going to be the jobs of tomorrow, contributors told the conference.

This country’s strong arts and music tradition was a huge asset and parents should not “funnel” children into old traditional courses for jobs. They should “not knock the creativity out of them”, a panel discussion involving the 200 strong floor was told.

Broadcaster and musician, Philip King, founder of the annual Dingle in December Other Voices music festival out of which the conference has grown, said Ireland could “steal a march — and be audible, visible and considerable“ in the new age.

“By considerable, I mean that people will consider Ireland as a place to return to and that others will consider Ireland as a destination in which to grow and enrich their business,” Mr King said.