Forgot to mention in the last post that on Day 1 we met Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny at the “Dail” — their parliament. We also stuck our noses into their version of House of Commons & Senate. Interesting to listen to the discussion. At the time, the hot news was the “Anglo-Irish Bank Tapes” — so never a dull moment.
But Day 2 was really all about Dublin. We started the day at the Science Gallery. What a fabulous idea. Here is the link: http://sciencegallery.com Loved their tag line: where ideas and opinions collide. Here is the blurb from their site:
Science Gallery is a world first. A new type of venue where today’s white-hot scientific issues are thrashed out and you can have your say. A place where ideas meet and opinions collide. Since opening in 2008, over one million of you have visited us in Dublin – ranking us amongst the top ten free cultural attractions in Ireland. We’re all about opening science up to passionate debate and want your opinion.
We then moved on to a tour of Trinity College Dublin and the Book of Kells. The library is an amazing space — see photo.
We then visited the Dublin Digital Hub — http://www.thedigitalhub.com Also amazing. They have identified and then transformed some of the under-utilized areas of the city — and it is a BIG area — for incubators and accelerators.
The City of Dublin has a whole set of initiatives to put Dublin/Ireland back on its feet: Dublin Digital Master Plan (driven by jobs and getting infrastructure to a world-class standard).
The final stop was at the Guinness Store-House. Great for those who like beer, less exciting for people like me. But I enjoyed the extremely professional and well-design space and tour.
Here is a shot of the interior and the fun banners.