Dublin Web Summit puts Ireland at center of the tech map

Fourth Dublin Web Summit sees throngs of tech glitterati and power
brokers in Ireland's capital

Few events, or glossy Enterprise Ireland brochures, could have sold Ireland as well as last week's Dublin Web Summit.

This year's show was amazingly only the fourth installation of the event – now regarded as among Europe's leading technology conferences – but that would have been almost impossible to tell judging by the throngs of tech glitterati and power brokers dotting the floors of the RDS.

The project is the brainchild of the dynamic Paddy Cosgrave, who at 27 has achieved what others can probably only dream of doing in a life-time.

Cosgrave took center stage to join Prime Minister Enda Kenny on stage Wednesday to open the NASDAQ stock exchange from Ireland for the first time in history, but otherwise remained fairly well-hidden during the event, orchestrating a massive operation that involved dozens of paid workers and volunteers.

The speakers' list read like a "Who's Who" of the tech and investment worlds, and was the perfect opportunity for Kenny to wax lyrical about the massive potential of Ireland's vaunted startup scene, which now stands up to comparison with other major tech clusters such as London, Silicon Valley and Israel.

The fitting conclusions to the event saw Kenny discussing with billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk -- one in a business suit, the other, tellingly in leather jacket and jeans -- which saw the young Musk advise Kenny that the time for third levels feels, at least in certain disciplines, had drawn to a close.

"For technological companies, you need engineers," Musk said, articulating as pithily as possible the crux of Ireland's knowledge economy problem.

"[So] maybe engineering could be tuition free or something like that," he proposed.

Beyond the center stage, hundreds gathered to see the vast array of startup companies that had traveled from the four corners of the world just to get a glimpse of the action in Dublin.

Multimillionaire investors rubbed shoulders with young startup founders barely finished their time in college, with an untold amount of investment deals (and free coffee drinking) going on everywhere. The atmosphere was electrifying.

Never ones to miss a chance to plug the Emerald Isle, Bord Bía, the primary financial power behind Good Food Ireland, an industry group representing Irish food producers, wowed attendees with a vast tarpaulin-full of free, local delights, with the best of local cheeses, hams and other delicacies on offer for attendees hungry for a free lunch.

For three to four days in Dublin (depending on how many pre and post Summit festivities attendees deigned to cram in to their trip), all notions of a recession or brain drain were cast out of the equation.

Buoyant positivity – the inevitable follow-on from hours spent listening to inspirational speakers and tech-geeks delighted to share their next game-changing idea – was the order of the day, with a healthy dose of belief in all things Ireland and Irish thrown in there for good mix.

What started as a "crazy" idea in a young techie's mind four years ago blossomed into something extraordinary.

Perhaps the same process of self-belief coupled with hard work can rub off the tech industry's glittering wings on to the broader economy.

Minimum beer prices could be on the way for Ireland

Fifty cent a can beer may be no longer.

That's the stark reality facing Irish youth and college students if Dublin Lord Mayor Andrew Montague gets his way.

The Lord Mayor claimed yesterday that enforcing minimum alcohol prices would curb alcoholism and anti-social behaviour among Ireland's youth.

The move, if implemented, would mark the first time that such measures have been introduced in Ireland, and the second major government initiative in recent history to curb problem drinking, after the swift and successful passage of the Intoxicating Liquor act through the Dáil enforced a national 10pm curfew on off-trade (liquor store) alcohol sales.

Montague said yesterday that he believed there was a 'strong case' to be made for implementing such measures, citing '50 cent' cans of beer on sale in supermarkets as an example of the sort of bargain basement beer the measures would directly target.

He also claimed that such incredibly cheap larger was almost the sole preserve of 'young people, often underage drinkers, and people with drink problems,' before hastening to add that more sensible drinkers would still be able to enjoy a leisurely 'glass of wine' at home (which can, actually, be almost as cheaply acquired as beer, often found on sale at prices as low as €5 a bottle; realistically, however, such distasteful wine would probably fall foul of anyone but young drinkers' undiscerning palettes..)

What do I have to say about this? While I can understand the Lord Mayor's sincere and well-intended plan to control the levels of alcohol related anti-social behaviour in Irish cities (some would say it's becoming a 'scourge', though in my experience living abroad it isn't significantly worse than what's found in other countries), perhaps imposing greater penalties on retailers found selling alcohol to underage patrons would be a less draconian measure to consider?

While like most people my age the days of drinking 50c supermarket beer have long been supplanted by slightly more lavish delights, it still doesn't seem fair that all of society should be made pay the price of the recklessness of a few retailers for whom selling a bit more 'drink' to boost profits factors as a higher priority than ensuing that that 'drink' doesn't get into the wrong - principally, underage - hands.

Any such minimum pricing policy is also going to have to target vodka, wine, whiskey (all budget varieties needless to say), gin and cider if it's going to have chance of being successful, for if not people will simply make the transition to these drinks after the supermarket beers get the ministerial chop.

With the ever-burgeoning number of liquor stores sprouting up around Ireland, many of which now import 'exotic' drinks not previously available (often to cater to the tastes of the various immigrant communities) enforcing an effective minimum cent-per-unit-alcohol policy may also prove unworkable.As I said in a previous blog,Ireland's newfound penchant for over-regulation (a ban on smoking while driving is also under consideration at the moment) seems to be blazing an unstoppable trail.

Ultimately, though, I think it all boils down to the point that the ultimate responsibility for the enterprise of drinking alcohol (with the exception of the underage) rests with the drinker: a well-to-do thirty something professional on a stag party is as likely to get uncontrollably drunk on on-trade or premium drink as a freshman (admittedly a very cheap one) guzzling the supermarket beer. Should all drink, perhaps, be banned!?

Implementing stricter measures against those found dangerously intoxicated (ie public order offences) and selling drink to underagers might be a smarter policy than stripping society of fifty cent supermarket lager.

Extra: Below a picture of the famous 'Dutch Gold', a notoriously cheap Irish import synonymous with cheap beer in Ireland .