THEY BEGAN to arrive from about 8.30am, stereotypically alert/preoccupied/aloof/benign as befits captains of industry.
Were they conjuring up Einsteinian ideas even as they traversed the cobblestones in the Upper Castle Yard? Culture captain Michael Colgan approached, looking chummy with a glamorous blonde woman.
What were they talking about? “Cobblestones and trying to negotiate them in high heels . . .”
Colgan kindly allowed us to rummage through his goodie bag which at first glance appeared to contain nothing more exciting than a pad and reports but finally yielded a nice commemorative Franklin Covey silver pen. Which he kept a proprietorial hand on.
So who was the woman? “Haven’t a clue,” he said, prompting a great media sigh of despair. The recognition factor at this forum, it’s fair to say, is abysmal. What we needed, suggested a photographer, was someone who would announce arrivals by doing a theatrical twirl around each with a large name banner. “The thing is,” said a financial journalist from whom we expected great revelations, “most successful businessmen look exactly the same.”
A quick flick through the Department of Foreign Affairs 88- page programme revealed Colgan’s temporary companion to be the high-flying Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, a former US ambassador and senior adviser for special initiatives to the US secretary of state. The quick flick was feasible because about 35 of the 260 participants are women and they are all quite distinctive.
So we reached out gratefully to friendly politicians such as Michael Noonan and Micheál Martin, eyed Denis O’Brien walking purposefully and silently past with his takeaway coffee and pondered how great a sacrifice Hugo McNeill had made by coming to Dublin instead of going to Wellington.
Was the blessedly recognisable, mathematical physics graduate- turned-comedian and presenter Dara Ó Briain feeling at home among all the business chiefs?
“You could have filtered it [the plenary session] by who wears a tie and who doesn’t,” he says. “If you had run some sort of sift through the room, you would have picked out Fiach Mac Conghail from the Abbey and Gabriel Byrne and me and Cathal Gaffney from Brown Bag. None of us was wearing a tie. Even to be in a suit feels a bit like being in our fathers’ clothes to some extent. And the non-ties have gathered in corners and gone, ‘what are we doing here exactly’?”
He liked the bluntness of speakers like Peter Sutherland. “We do have a tendency to say how great this or that is, but here, people are saying, well actually we do have a problem with things like education, competitiveness, university slippage.”
One of the few frissons of the session was triggered by Richard Barrett, chairman of Treasury Holdings China, whose voice could be mistaken for the kind of villain who strokes white cats.
He caused a palpable stir in St Patrick’s Hall by asking who could speak Chinese to raise a hand.
About three – including himself and superwoman Catherine Toolan, managing director for Aramark’s food service project for the 2012 Olympics – did so, prompting Barrett to announce that even that was an over- representation of the proportion who could speak the language.
Afterwards, Barrett said, “the forum has the capacity to be very powerful if they listen to what is said and act on it.
“The Government is more serious about this forum than the last, but they need to honestly face up to the challenges, take the opportunities presented, not engage in self-congratulation for what they have done, but knuckle down to more work to get more done.
“Enda Kenny seems very determined to deal in realities. They should all listen to Peter Sutherland more.”
Not everyone was thrilled with Sutherland, however, not least Fiachra Ó Luain, a Trinity master’s student, otherwise occupied yesterday as a catering worker for the forum. He thought Sutherland’s notion of focusing education investment on “elite” faculties missed the point when back-to-education allowances were no longer available to the unemployed.
But for all the cynicism surrounding the forum outside the walls of Dublin Castle, there was little within. It’s hard to remain aloof from the enthusiasm of men like John Hartnett, founder of the Irish Technology Leadership Group in Silicon Valley or big ideas such as the world’s top Irish business people offering themselves – entirely free of charge – as members of State boards.
Cultural ambassador Gabriel Byrne, looking suitably arty in dark shades, cravat and a long black coat, talked of the work accomplished since the Farmleigh forum two years ago.
An Irish exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, some 1,200 artists in 200 shows across the US, a film retrospective in Paris – none of which would have happened without his door- opening abilities, he said.
It’s also fair to say there was little sign of elitism or living it large at this event. It is estimated that the cost will be about €300,000 – a little less than the Farmleigh outing, though with twice as many in attendance.
All participants have paid their own way so no appearance money, travel or accommodation costs are being charged to the State – not even by Bill Clinton, who speaks today.