Ireland Moves Ahead Ireland 2001 Program Schedule Traveller's Advice Maps of Ireland

Ireland 2001 Program Schedule

morning

Depart Winnipeg

Arrive Dublin, transport to Fitzwilliam Hotel

afternoon

Tour of Dublin

early morning

Orientation to Ireland Smart Tour

Irish Tourist Board

Enterprise Ireland

Higher Education Authority

University of Limerick

Golf or free time

Depart Shannon for Winnipeg via Toronto

morning

Industrial Development Agency - Forfas

Dublin City University Invent Centre

Institute of Technology Tallaght

Innovation Centre and Technological Park

midday

free time and arranged meetings

Citywest tour

Lunch at President's Manor

afternoon

Global Knight's Quest

Trinity College Innovation Centre

Depart Dublin for Limerick

Shannon Development

late afternoon

National Stud Farm

Shannon Free Trade Zone

Wrap-up Dinner

evening

Literary Pub Crawl

Reception

Dublin City Tour

After arriving in Dublin on Sunday you will have the afternoon to relax and do a little sight-seeing. We have arranged a bus tour for you which you can catch across the street from your hotel. The tour takes about 90 minutes, or you can hop off one bus and catch another to stretch the tour out for the afternoon.

Orientation to Ireland Smart Tour

We will start the day with an orientation to Ireland and a preview of the week's activities. Bring your Palm Pilot.

The Global Knight's Quest

Squire Dennis, Son of a Knight, invites you on an informal journey through time and technology as we examine the development of Ireland from the Iron Age to the Information Age. Starting at Dublin Castle and ending in nearby Temple Bar, Dennis will show us some of the discoveries he has made on his quest to become a global knight.

Dublin Literary Pub Crawl

We've heard rumours that there are more Irish pubs in Dublin than in all of Singapore and Winnipeg combined. To check on this, and just in case you can't find a pub, we have arranged for a guided pub crawl of historic proportions.

Monday evening we will see the favoured haunts that inspired Ireland's literary figures and watch actors perform humourous extracts from great Irish works. Sampling the local fare is optional, but does contribute to the multi-media experience. You will probably want to have a bite to eat before heading out on this tour.

Link to: www.dublinpubcrawl.com

Irish Tourist Board - Bord Fáilte

Tourism is a vital part of Ireland's economic plan, but not just because of the punts it brings in to local economies. After showing off the country-side, the Irish believe visitors will fall in love and want to stay in touch, perhaps with some investment or trade. We will hear all about this diabolical little plan in a presentation from the Tourist Board.

Link to: www.ireland.travel.ie

IDA Ireland

IDA Ireland is responsible for regional and national industrial planning, for securing new investment from overseas and for encouraging existing foreign enterprises in Ireland to expand. IDA provides advice and financial incentives for inwardly-investing companies, and promotes joint ventures and licensing agreements.

IDA is active in sectors such as electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, engineering and international and financial services.

Originally the IDA was responsible for both indigenous industry and inward investment, but IDA now covers inward investment only. The IDA has offices in Ireland, the United States, Europe, the Far East and Australia.

We will hear first hand, how they market Ireland, emphasizing the stability and growing competitiveness of the Irish economy, the favourable tax regime, financial incentives, the skills base and Ireland's active participation in Europe.

We will also hear from Forfas, an IDA agency, on tax issues in Ireland.

Link to: www.idaireland.com

Trinity College Innovation Centre

Trinity College Dublin's Innovation Centre links business and industry to research and education. Among other activities, the Innovation Centre serves as an incubator for small businesses and has spawned over forty campus companies commercializing technologies developed from Trinity's academic research base.

We will hear how TCD's Innovation Centre fosters academic innovation and expertise in knowledge-intensive areas such as biotechnology, materials science, advanced computer science, how they provide patent advice and research information, and how they have helped establish industrial laboratories and campus companies.

Link to: www.tcd.ie/research_innovation

Enterprise Ireland

On Wednesday morning we hear about the other side of the Celtic Tiger - the home-grown industries and how Ireland supports their creation and growth.

Enterprise Ireland supports ambitious Irish companies to build capability, innovate, grow, create new partnerships and sell internationally. They also help international businesses to find Irish suppliers and trade profitably with Irish partners.

EI also oversees national and EU supports for IT innovation capability and industrial/educational co-operation. EI makes investment commitments of more than IR£100 million annually, and equity funding plays a key role in these investments.

We will hear about EI's Innovation projects, the Campus Companies programme, and a presentation on BioResearch Ireland and the biotech industry.

Link to: www.enterprise-ireland.com

invent - The Innovation and Enterprise Centre

invent is Dublin City University's state-of-the-art facility for enabling indigenous industry to grow and thrive. Providing flexible space and extensive network cabling infrastructure is only the first step. The centre also provides business support and networking opportunities and direct linkage into the facilities and resources of the University.

Link to: invent

Reception

We are planning a wonderful reception in your honour at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce with Canadian and Irish officials and business leaders.

Higher Education Authority of Ireland

The Higher Education Authority furthers development of higher education, assists in coordinating state investment in higher education, allocates grants among universities and designated institutions, and promotes the attainment of equality of opportunity in higher education.

As with other leading business clusters, Ireland's support for education is a key component of their success. We will hear a presentation on the strategies, successes, and lessons learned on Ireland's journey to educational excellence.

Link to: www.hea.ie

Institute of Technology Tallaght

We follow up on the theory of the Irish education system with a visit to an institute which makes it a reality.

The Institue of Technology Tallaght was established to provide high quality career-focused higher education relevant to the needs of Irish society, and to develop partnerships with industry and commerce.

The Institute includes a European dimension in all of its programmes by promoting the study of the languages and culture of the member states of the European Union.

Tallaght is developing as the capital of the new county, South Dublin. Tallaght now has all the characteristics of a self-generating new town with a population of 71,000 and a wide range of activities. It is now the third largest urban area in Ireland, after Dublin and Cork. Many companies are joining the prestigious list of companies with their headquarters in Tallaght (some 1,000 companies provide a firm base of employment in the area).

Link to: www.it-tallaght.ie

Tour of the Citywest Development

The Dublin South Chamber of Commerce will be your host for a tour of the Citywest development which is a private sector business incubator.

Citywest is all about communications, not just locally but internationally. Corporations locating here will find a world class telecommunications system ready and waiting for them. Individual needs, no matter how complex, can be facilitated.

The National Digital Park at Citywest has been designed in particular to meet the needs of companies with very heavy data transfer requirements. It is the home of Ireland's first Telehouse through which Global Crossing provides broadband connectivity to all major European and American centres.

The Irish Government, through IDA Ireland, has gone a step further in pursuit of its policy of making Ireland a hub for e-commerce. In order to ensure that Ireland is as competitive as any other location, it guarantees that broadband connections from the National Digital Park will cost no more than in the US.

Citywest is not only a business campus designed and laid out to the highest international standards, but also one which reflects aspects of Irish landscape and culture and is distinctively Celtic.

Link to: citywest.ie

National Stud Farm

On our way from Dublin to Limerick we will make a stop at the National Stud Farm.

Breeding horses may not seem high-tech, but it is one of the oldest forms of biotechnology. Located in the rolling emerald-green hills of Tully a few miles southwest of Dublin, the Irish National Stud Farm is a large complex that includes paddocks, stables, foaling units, a saddlery, a forge, an intensive care unit and various yards where foaling mares can graze.

There is also a museum and spectacular Japanese gardens. The energy and enthusiasm of the staff at the Farm is impressive, and the tranquil surroundings are a perfect stage to exhibit the incredibly beautiful thoroughbreds.

Link to: www.irish-national-stud.ie

University of Limerick Innovation Centre

Ireland’s first Innovation Centre has become a prolific incubator for business ideas and an important resource for enterprises during their start-up phase. The Centre plays a pivotal role in the promotion and development of new, indigenous industry in the region and concentrates on the development of innovative knowledge-based, high growth businesses.

We will hear about their selection of new start-up firms, and how the surrounding established firms are encouraged and assisted to undertake innovative research and development.

Link to: www.shannon-dev.ie/innovation/

National Technological Park

The National Technological Park has attracted major international corporations with competitive tax rates, quality labour force and convenient access. The Park has a reputation as one of the most profitable enterprise locations within the European Union.

Shannon Development

Shannon Development oversees much of what we will be seeing on Friday, and is responsible for most of the economic activity in the area. We will hear about the integration of the Technological Park including the Innovation Centre, and the Free Zone into an overall strategy for continued growth.

Link to: www.shannon-dev.ie

Shannon Free Trade Zone

"The new, long range jets, however, had no need of Shannon as a service station. Yet there were those not convinced that the airport was finished. One was Brendan O’Regan... who had made his name by developing Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport shopping centre. 'We must reach up into the sky and pull the business down,' he insisted."

Shannon’s duty-free status was extended in 1959 to manufacturing within a designated zone. The world’s first duty-free industrial park was in business. Since then, Shannon Free Trade Zone has used an integrated approach to manufacturing and industrial services to stay globally competitive.

The Zone continues to attract investment and is home to a range of sophisticated manufacturing and service industries. The Shannon World Aviation Park facilitates the growing international aviation sector. A Food Centre has been developed to increase added value from local natural resources.

Link to: www.shannon-dev.ie

Golf Option

On Saturday you have a choice of a round of 18 on some great Irish links, or a free day for shopping or sight-seeing.

Wrap-up Dinner

We will wrap-up the week with cocktails and superb dining at the Mustard Seed, a country house hotel featuring the best of local and fresh garden produce prepared in a modern Irish style.

The preparation of food is taken very seriously at the Mustard Seed and the ingredients are sourced from the best of Ireland's organic farms and cheese makers. The herb and vegetable gardens are lovingly cared for so that you may savour their delightful flavour and goodness.

Here is a style of cooking that plays games with the discilpines of the classics, grilled goats cheese with a roasted beetroot dressing, pork terrine glazed with an apple and clove jelly, steamed escalope of salmon with a quenelle of pasta and a lemon and chive buerre blanc.

Link to: restaurant review.