What is the secret of Ireland’s spectacular economic success? How has this impinged on national identity? And what can Scotland learn from its Celtic cousin?
Those questions and more will be aired at an Irish-Scottish forum being hosted by the University's AHRC Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies this weekend (Nov 16 &17).
Keynote speaker on Friday (November 16) will be Sean Dorgan, Chief Executive of Ireland's Investment and Development Agency since 1999. He will be in discussion with Robert Crawford, the former head of Scottish Enterprise.
Dorgan, who retires at the end of the year, has played a key role in Ireland's rapid industrial and economic development and will argue that a low-tax regime is not the only factor required for economic success.
"I'll be touching on how we do things in Ireland, the kind of informal networks we have," he explained.
"Irish people are all about connections and relationships. There's a collective mindset whether it is music, the arts, sport or business on the agenda that has proved very important.
"Take events like Italia '90 and Riverdance - they were both displays of confidence and identity that translated into economic success. Irish people have a strong shared vision, what I like to call a 'fuzzy' shared vision, some of which comes from an intrinsic understanding among Irish people.
"A country's tax regime is a significant factor in winning investment but it's certainly not the only one."
In 2007-08, the AHRC Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies will host three meetings of the Irish-Scottish Forum - a venue designed to bring academics together with those involved in business and public life to debate issues of joint concern in Ireland and Scotland.
"This year's meeting will be focused on the relationship between national economic development and national cultural development, and the ways in which they may hinder or sustain each other," said Professor Cairns Craig, Director of the AHRC Centre.
"On Friday and Saturday the focus will be on the development of Irish and Scottish economies since the 1980s, the ways in which they have reshaped conceptions of national identity, and the possible interaction of cultural and economic development in the future.
"The second meeting, in late January, will focus on the contribution, both actual and possible, of the creative industries to the Irish and Scottish economies, and the third will explore government strategies for the development of a 'knowledge economy', and what the cultural significance of 'knowledge economies' might be."
The Forum will commence in Room 028 of the MacRobert Building at 5.15pm on Friday, November 16th (tea and coffee will be available from 4.30pm), followed by a reception and dinner at Ardoe House Hotel. It will reconvene at 9.15am on Saturday, November 17 and conclude with lunch at 1pm.
For further information, contact Professor Cairns Craig, Director of the AHRC Centre, on 01224 703 124 or href="mailto:cairns.craig@abdn.ac.uk">cairns.craig@abdn.ac.uk</a> . To attend the Forum contact Jon Cameron, Administrator to the AHRC Centre on 01224 272343 or href="mailto:jon.cameron@abdn.ac.uk">jon.cameron@abdn.ac.uk</a></p>