MICHAEL Smurfit proved a huge attraction at the September lunch of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Some 700 people attended last Tuesday's event where Smurfit spoke out on his concerns about slowing economic growth in Europe in the drive towards the single currency.

Despite his worries, Smurfit was in fine form. Stating that he enjoyed talking to the business people who are trying to build the Ireland of tomorrow, he told them about the advice once given him by his father, Jefferson.

In the 1950s when he came back to Ireland to join the family business, his father warned him about the difficult business environment stating: "If you can make money in Ireland, you can make it anywhere".