By Harry Keaney
Perish the thought, but trying to figure out what might cause Ireland’s economic bubble to burst has almost become a national pastime. Will it be inflation, excess wage demands, layoffs by multinationals with subsidiaries in Ireland, a collapse of the property market, a fall-off in consumer spending, spiraling debt, an excess of poorly supported bank borrowing or, simply, a loss of confidence that the good times can last, leading to fear and eventual panic?
Whatever it might be, most people agree that the current boom is rooted in no small measure in new technology. Now, a special report compiled by a task force for the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation recommends that Ireland allocate _500 million during the next five years to ensure the country gains a competitive technological edge.
The funding would be mainly used to overhaul the science curricula in schools and develop national centers of expertise for biotechnology and information technology.
Concern is growing in Ireland over the falling numbers of school students taking physics and chemistry at second level.
The ICSTI report also suggests more aggressive venture capital schemes, and it identifies the involvement of Irish people working overseas, particularly in the U.S., as key to developing an information and communications technologies innovation structure.
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Meanwhile, Jan Gesmar Larsen, the head of Dell’s European, Middle Eastern and African operations, has said that skilled staff are becoming increasingly hard to find in Ireland, and that training programs were unlikely to solve the problem in the short term. He said that while his company was not currently experiencing skills “shortages,” there was some concern about the future.
IBO news
The Irish Business Organization of New York will hold its next midtown breakfast meeting on Wednesday, May 26, at 8 a.m. in the Mezze Restaurant, on 44th Street, between Fifth and Madison avenues. The cost is $6. Details, Bill Buckley at 627-2111.
The IBO is now putting the finishing touches to its fourth annual trade show on May 19 at the 200 Fifth Avenue Club. Doors open 4 p.m. The focus of this year’s show is Irish American women in business.
Behind the bank counter
Frank Glackin, head of the G_rd_ Bureau of Fraud Investigations, is retiring from his job. But that does not mean he will not be working. He has already signed up with the top Irish legal firm A&L Goodbody. He will be working in the firm’s money-laundering department and will advise Goodbody’s clients, mainly large financial institutions, about complying with the provisions of the 1994 Criminal Justice Act, which places an onus on the institutions to report suspicious money transactions.
Glackin was the first director of the new g_rd_ unit, which is commonly known in Ireland as, simply, the fraud squad.
Sharing the shares
Margaret Doyle, the widow of hotelier P. V. Doyle, will have no shareholding in the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group when the _247 million acquisition by Jurys of Doyle Hotels is completed. But despite having no equity in the merged group, Doyle will hold the honorary position of life president of the group.
The late P.V. Doyle was the founder of the Doyle group.
Mrs. Doyle’s three daughters, Eileen Monahan, Bernie Gallagher and Ann Roche, will share equally in the 14.8 million Jurys shares that are part of the consideration, giving each an 8.3 percent stake in the Jurys Doyle Group. These Jurys shares were worth _102.8 million at the time of the takeover but have since risen.
Prior to the Jurys deal, Margaret Doyle and her daughters bought out Mrs. Doyle’s son David’s shareholding for an estimated _47 million.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Irish software company CBT, Bill McCabe, will receive more than $40 million worth of CBT shares following the acquisition of his technology company Knowledge Well. McCabe owns 65 percent of Knowledge Well, which is based in Dublin. CBT’s $52 million takeover of the company will see McCabe pick up almost 2.8 million of CBT shares and, in addition, share options worth almost $8 million.
Gravy train
A member of the D_il, who’s name D_il +ireann officials are refusing to release, received expenses of more than _44,500 tax free in just one year, according to the Sunday Tribune in Dublin. Official records obtained by the newspaper show that Ireland’s 165 TDs claimed a total of more than _4 million in expenses in 12 months since April 1998.
CRH expansion
Irish building materials group CRH will increase its profile in South America through acquisitions in Chile and Brazil and by increasing its interests in Argentine, chief executive Don Godson said at the company’s annual meeting last week.
Post office shutdown?
Another blow to rural Ireland. One of the biggest rounds of post office closures in the history of the state may occur next year when 1,500 sub post offices face shutdown.