Ireland needs dose of American 'can do' optimism

Ireland needs to take a leaf from the US, where dogged optimism remains a defining trait

By

NIALL O'DOWD,

IrishCentral.com, President and Publisher

Larger Text

Print

E-mail

8 Comments

Brian Cowen meets the media at the NYSE

Tweet

There seems to be a deep sepulchral gloom about in Ireland, especially in the media, where the worst traits of negativity are flourishing. Brian Cowen’s visit to America this week was a case in point. It came under intense scrutiny and suspicions of an American junket were widely reported on and I fielded many interview requests along that line.

The underlying theme appeared to be anger that Cowen would come to the US at all and the lack of coverage of his visit here was seized upon. But that was hardly surprising. This was not St Patrick’s Day and Cowen’s target audience was a core of top Wall Street and business leaders most of whom he met.

The list of who he met privately makes interesting reading. Gary Coen president of Goldman Sachs, Brian Moynihan ceo of Bank of America, Colm Kelleher executive vice president of Morgan Stanley and Robert Kelly ceo of Bank of New York is a who’s who of the top financial names in America.

The new direction is already being dubbed “financial diplomacy”on behalf of Ireland, a more low key approach that eschews big public meetings and focuses on private access to the key networks that propel American business. It is entirely understandable that there is grave suspicion of what Irish politicians are up to given the economic situation. But launching a successful venture capital initiative, which Ireland has been crying out for for decades, is not among the suspect actions.

The vision of an Irish Silicon Valley where new and innovative businesses can find funding that is currently denied them could be a foundation stone in an economic recovery. The initiative is based on an Israeli success story, which has allowed the Israeli government to kick-start its own technology hub by providing funding drawn equally from government and private venture capital.

As a result of the Israeli initiative it has far more companies in the Nasdaq top 100 than any other country outside the US. It is precisely that kind of success that Ireland is now trying to emulate. There certainly is a lot to be gained from learning from the best and the Irish government is moving in the correct direction over here.

Cowen is seeking to address a key issue in Ireland where there are still many highly creative small business owners who are gasping for capital. I have met many of these same businessmen and women as they seek to get funding in the American market. The new initiative is tailor-made for them.

Print

E-mail

Tweet