Trinity Economic Forum
Synge Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College
16.30, Friday, 08 February 2013
Tánaiste, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon and welcome to the Synge Theatre and to the Trinity Economic Forum - the only student-led forum of its kind in Ireland.
This event was inaugurated last year, when it was opened by our President, Michael D. Higgins. I believe 150 students from around Ireland attended. This year there are over 400 students, hailing from all Irish universities. Over the next two days, they will participate in debates on the future of the Irish economy, together with distinguished speakers from the IMF, the Central Bank, the UK Financial Services Authority, the Bank of England, and the Department of Finance, as well as academic, industry, and media speakers.
This forum, which got off to such a triumphant start, goes from strength to strength. This year, it is not only Ireland’s, but Europe’s, largest student economics forum. It also has the gift of timing: for the past two days Irish economic policy has made headlines round the world. It’s a critical moment to be debating the key themes of this forum - ‘Re-thinking Economics’ and ‘An EU banking union’ - and I know we’re all excited to have gathered here, in Trinity some of the top people in their field to lend us their expertise. I congratulate the organisers, Sean Gill, Gary Finnerty and the whole team, on a brilliant programme. I look forward to a most stimulating and productive two days.
The ambition of the Trinity Economic Forum, or the TEF, is high. You can read their mission statement on their website. Their aim is (quote):
“to promote student participation in shaping the future direction of economic policy in Ireland”.
They point out that:
“Realistically, some of the people who will be sitting around the policy table in fifteen years’ time determining the future of this country are in college right now… We want TEF to drive change, inspiring students and professionals alike to apply entrepreneurial flair to economic thinking, and to offer decisive, forward-thinking leadership for economic policy.”
I must say that while of course the economy continues to cause concern in Ireland as elsewhere, this statement gives me hope. I like the cool appraisal – realistically future policy leaders are indeed in college right now – and I like the willingness to get stuck in. The TEF doesn’t just seek to prepare students for the future – it reminds students that they are already in possession of entrepreneurial flair and leadership skills, and that the time to start participating in shaping the future is now.
In Trinity we recognise the transformative power of higher education in its broadest sense – not just want happens in the classroom, but what students learn from peer-to-peer interaction, and from developing initiative and responsibility through event-organising, fundraising, competing, debating, and taking on leadership roles in College clubs and societies. In Trinity we seek to transcend the vocational; to educate for a career and for citizenship, not just for the first job.
This has always been our way – in fact our debating society, the Hist, is the oldest student society in the world. Our long-standing emphasis on the extracurricular has helped create students of drive and initiative, and today well capable of taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by recent innovations in social networking, marketing, communications, and campus entrepreneurship.
So when the TEF writes of seeking to “inspire students to apply entrepreneurial flair to economic thinking, and to offer decisive, forward-thinking leadership” that isn’t just high-sounding words. It is indeed within the grasp of students to make a difference – in business, in art, in policy.
Students today are studying in an uncertain economic climate. When they graduate they can expect to face a difficult jobs market, certainly as regards the traditional trades and professions. Their response in Trinity has been to hone their skills, and to develop a mindset which is not hidebound or defeatist, and which seeks out opportunities. This is precisely the mindset which will get us out of recession.
And it’s the mindset which led to this forum. I congratulate the students – both organisers and attendees - because they are helping themselves to a better future.
And I thank them because in so doing they are also helping us.
Ladies and gentlemen it is a pleasure for me now to introduce the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Eamon Gilmore.
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