Today’s pod is the story of how Ireland emerged from sleepy agricultural backwater, to the modern, first world nation it is today. For over three decades, Kieran McGowan was one of the architects of this transition in his position as head of the IDA – the body responsible for attracting overseas investment and bringing jobs to the country. From humble, working class beginnings, he shares what it was like growing up in Dublin in the fifties and sixties; the corruption and graft that so blighted the seventies and eighties; and the subsequent boom and bust of the “Celtic Tiger.” We discuss lessons learnt (and not!) and what can be done to fix today’s Ireland, which appears bereft of creativity and perhaps mired more than ever in procrastination and political inaction across so many important socio-economic issues.
LINKS
Former Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey: http://tinyurl.com/y95snfcb
Business in the Community initiative: https://www.bitc.ie/
The IDA: https://www.idaireland.com
A Pint With Seaniebee
Top 12 Best New Podcast Series of 2016: http://tinyurl.com/gps9tn5
Top 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2016: http://tinyurl.com/hp83rnw
Release date: November 10th 2017
Runtime: 49m
Recorded: Dublin