Let’s hope economic forum is an engine for change, not a talking

TWO years after its first outing, the Irish Global Economic Forum returns today, this time to Dublin Castle and not to Farmleigh, where it was held amid much fanfare in September 2009 by the previous government.

Former US president Bill Clinton is the big catch; he is due to deliver the keynote address tomorrow evening.

His interest in this small country remains deep and valuable to us. But there are many other significant and wealthy figures of global business due to attend, alongside some domestic figures. It may be an opportunity to sell Ireland as a place to do business, in which to make investments. So far, so good, it would appear it.

Or is it? What benefits will Ireland really draw from this event? Will it actually open any new markets to our exporters, entice any investment that was not coming here already? Will it provoke any new ways of thinking among our business classes, any change in the way we administer ourselves or go about our business? Even if the intentions of all those involved are good, will it have any practical beneficial effect, other than to make the people involved look good and feel happier about themselves?

I should declare an interest here. I am due to be involved, at one stage, in this weekend’s event, somewhat to my surprise, given that I commented very negatively on the last occasion, both in print and on the airwaves. I wrote then, based partly on conversations with some of the foreigners who had attended, that some of the participants were too self-satisfied about their presence, too eager to polish their own egos publicly.

The foreigners were shocked to discover that some present were still under the impression that we were a great little nation that had been a little bit unlucky to suffer unjustly from an international recession and that the same elite who brought us to the brink of disaster were the people to lead us from it, as if they were not the people responsible for getting us in the mess in the first place. That complacency was shattered by what happened 14 months later, when the IMF/EU/ECB took control of our finances, but while the political elite has changed many from the business classes remain comfortable in their ability to dictate almost without argument.

That was not to deny that there were some very able, very talented and proven people present — and it was not to doubt their sincere desire to help Ireland recover some of what it has lost in recent years — but much of the line-up had much to do with who knew who as much as with who could do something of practical use. There was a noticeable absence of younger people, and women, at the last event and far too few continental Europeans, especially when you consider how dependent on the EU we have become.

The event needed young people with the ideas and ambition for the future, even if it was just to give them the opportunity to meet the people who did attend, some of whom had succeeded in business and some of whom had met failure too. Many of those present had far from unblemished records: some had made disastrous personal and corporate investments although they rarely admit to that. Others had invested significantly in property. I doubted if much of that was said as the mutual backslapping went on.

We were limited in what we were allowed to find out about the going-on — although the State paid €320,000 to host the event — because nearly all of the meetings were held in secret. However, word did leak out about arguably the most interesting contribution. It came from Craig Barrett, the retired chief executive of American semi-conductor manufacturer Intel — one of the most important companies in the country. He castigated the failures of the country, saying that of the 14 reasons why the American giant invested in the country originally (back in 1989) only one still applied: our low level of corporation tax. In particular, he castigated the shortcomings of the education system — which is no longer producing sufficiently qualified people for the skilled jobs that are being offered — and the failure to encourage research and development so that new ideas and processes would be forthcoming from Ireland rather than being imported.

So why did I agree to get involved? I should say that no fee was offered as an inducement and nor did I seek any as I assume is the case with the other conference chairmen and chairwomen, lest anyone think that’s why I became involved. Curiosity, I suppose, was my motivation and a realisation that I should keep an open mind. Having initially turned down the opportunity to chair a session today (because its timing conflicted with my radio work duties) I accepted a request to chair a session tomorrow morning on “promoting Irish culture: building on the progress since Farmleigh”.

Among the panellists are actor Gabriel Byrne, who is Ireland’s official and unpaid cultural ambassador, the comedian Dara O’Briain, author Colm Toibin and businesswoman Helen Lambert. The session, unlike some of the others, is open to the media and will be carried on a live stream on the internet. One of the things I hope to examine with them is whether it is actually appropriate to consider the value of cultural activities as merely economic, rather than looking at the promotion of culture as something that benefits the life of the nation and its place in the world. This raises questions of course as to whether this session is actually appropriate to an economic conference, although it is also true that there can be economic benefits from establishing or improving teaching and performance facilities in this country and in bringing artists to perform abroad.

I do fear, however, by looking at the overall agenda that much of this forum is going to be more of the same. Having made their opening statements Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore are to be joined in a panel discussion by Catherine Day, secretary general of the European Commission, Peter Sutherland of Goldman Sachs International and, Carl Schramm, president and chief executive of the Kauffman Foundation. Although an Irishwoman, Day has been very critical of Ireland in recent times, but the European Commission has lectured and hectored us while it should be reminded instead that its own handling of the economic crisis has been woeful too. Sutherland pops up with his economic sermons regularly, even though the behaviour of the likes of Goldman Sachs, and most particularly it, has contributed greatly to the current global economic crisis. His siren voice urges more cuts, but it turns out he has been taking a pension of €50,000 a year from this State for his work as attorney general 30 years ago, even though he has a wealth estimated at over €100 million.

There are lesser known names involved, it should be said, and new ones, suggesting that perhaps some of the failings of the last event may not be repeated. But it is interesting that the new government, made up of Fine Gael and Labour, is happy to deal with many of the same people who were favourites of Fianna Fáil. Some things, it seems, never change, even at events that are meant to promote change. I hope I’m proven wrong over the weekend.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper is broadcast on 100-102 Today FM, Monday to Friday, 4.30pm to 7pm. His new book How Ireland Really Went Bust will be published by Penguin on Monday week.