Policy - The Irish Diaspora

OPINION:Ireland's diaspora represent a significant resource. However, we must first agree what we are trying to achieve

IRELAND IS home to about 0.06 per cent of the planet's population of 6.7 billion people. There are about 1.2 billion people living in India, about 300 times as many as in Ireland. Our national pre-occupations may at first sight appear quaintly parochial, just a small closet at the back of the global stage. But are we as insignificant as these numbers suggest?

The Ireland Funds have published a fascinating comparative review of international diaspora strategies. According to their study, there are 34 million Irish Americans registered in the US national census of 2000; five million Scots Irish, in addition to six million of Irish extraction living in Britain; 3.8 million Irish Canadians; 1.9 million Irish Australians; and 500,000 Irish Argentineans. There are 3.1 million people holding Irish passports living outside of Ireland.

Their review claims Ireland is in fact a highly globalised community of 70 million people, of which just over four million live in Ireland. Our global diaspora therefore greatly exceeds the 20 million Indian diaspora, and even more so the eight million Jewish disapora living abroad from their five million colleagues within Israel.

The Ireland Funds diaspora review was distributed in advance to all the invitees for last weekend's Global Irish Economic Forum at Farmleigh. Parts of it are tough reading, particularly those on pages 12 and 13 which underline the brutal demise in the Irish economy over the last 12 months, not least our 87 per cent increase in youth unemployment. From the heady soporifics of the Celtic Tiger, when delegations of foreign governments reverently lined up to understand how Ireland had achieved its outstanding success, instead our appalling crash will presumably fill the pages of many dissertations submitted worldwide for PhDs in economics in the years ahead.

I congratulate David McWilliams in proposing the forum, and I compliment the Government for accepting his proposal. I look forward with considerable interest to reading the five or more business plans McWilliams has promised the nation will definitely emerge from the weekend's deliberations.

I was disappointed at being unable to attend the forum last weekend due to a personal commitment. I know as much or little as the general public about what was said, through reading the online community and traditional media. Craig Barrett may have made comments about Intel's presence in Ireland. John McColgan reputedly suggested we use the internet to connect ourselves. John Harnett believed our indigenous companies need access to talent, valued added funding and markets. Dermot Desmond proposed we monetise our culture. Tom Corcoran allegedly questioned our ambiguous attitude to business ethics. Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin reportedly could not give a direct response to proposals for extended citizenship for our diaspora.

As the Ireland Funds review cogently summarises, experience suggests while it is easy to initiate diaspora initiatives, it is difficult to maintain them in the absence of concrete results. Enthusiasm without execution has damaged diaspora strategies elsewhere. The review concludes that the Irish Government should act as a facilitator of initiatives and give its imprimatur on appropriate programmes, rather than be an implementer.

The forum is a timely complement to the innovation taskforce, of which I am a member. In that role, our diaspora represent a significant resource to greatly assist advocacy for Ireland. However, we must first agree what we are trying to achieve.

My own view is that the core of our economic recovery must be a large number of innovative companies in Ireland focused on global market opportunities. Innovators and entrepreneurs must see evidence that Ireland represents one of the best locations to initiate new enterprises and ultimately to create wealth. Business successes will then create positive feedback in our economy as our human capital gains direct world-class experience and as fiscal resources are also recycled. In turn, this will attract yet additional world-class talent and further foreign financial investment.

If we were to adopt such a strategy, what would be the objectives of a future Farmleigh-style forum? Given the observations of the Ireland Funds review, the Irish diaspora should not only feel an association to our culture and heritage, but also understand the opportunities and challenges we, together, face. Those of our diaspora who are highly respected in their own communities should be equipped to enthusiastically promote Ireland as a world centre for innovation and wealth creation. They should be excited to catalyse companies based in Ireland via overseas opportunities. Appropriate individuals should be further encouraged to personally invest in Irish-based innovation, and to participate in mentoring and coaching Ireland's younger leaders.

As a national resource, our diaspora should be facilitated in an apolitical manner. A mature all-party engagement would be an important indication of our national professionalism and confidence. As we sincerely seek to support any weaker members of our own society, so should we aspire that the stronger members of our diaspora assist those weaker members in their own communities. As collective members of the greater Ireland beyond the immediate shores of this island, our sense of pride, respect and self-confidence will derive from our own commitment to the best of what being Irish represents.