Ireland

The closing keynote at our recent Symposium on Creative Thinking was given by Prof. Finbarr Bradley, who has many years experience working with global companies as well as championing local innovation and the irish language. Finbarr is an engaging speaker, filled with enthusiasm and real passion so we were pleased to give him scope to explore the issue of how valuable cultural differentiation and local context can be in fostering innovation as a challenge to the relentless pressures on universities to become more and more like each other in climbing up international league tables.  Note that the first few sentences are in Gaeilge (the Irish language), but it soon switches to English!

http://blip.tv/file/3855164/ 

The Sunday Times this weekend will announce that it has selected NUI Galway as the Irish University of the Year. For staff and students this is welcome recognition for the institution and all the efforts that have been put in in recent years with new degree programmes, investment in the campus (including a vast range of new technologies), and a rapidly growing research and technology development record, with Ireland's best record for patents and 'spin outs'.  Nice to get some good news amidst the more usual economic gloom!