Blog / ireland

I’m not going out on a limb by saying that the European crisis will impact growth for years, if not decades, to come. People are not spending, and banks are not lending. No surprise then that so much focus is being placed on innovation. Since the 2007 financial crisis smart government policy has shifted to replicating the Silicon Valley idea, creating hubs for young entrepreneurs and technology-focussed innovators to come, create and share with the world. Ireland is no different, and is doing it very well. I recently came across a top 30 of the most innovative countries in the world, and Ireland was at number 5!

Ireland has some great advantages that will allow it to follow through with its idea to become the island of innovation, particularly in the web space. Just look at the...

As I write this, my Rugby World Cup 2011 clock is showing 10 days, 3 hours, 13 minutes and 27 seconds until the start of this year’s tournament! The wait is nearly over and I have to say I am more than a little excited. Nothing could build my excitement more than the great win by the Wallabies over the All Blacks last weekend to break the drought on Tri Nations Championships. It was a cracking game and gave an insight into what we can expect from the greatest sporting event on earth (in my opinion anyway)! The pressure building on the New Zealand team given their past “choking” episodes makes this the most anticipated RWC ever. Will it be too much for them? Well the Wallabies showed that if you’re willing to bash them up, then they’re certainly beatable.

With tens of thousands...

I was having lunch with John Eales at Singleton Rugby Club the other day (okay, so were about 600 other people) and apart from telling some great stories about his time playing rugby for Australia, he talked about how the support from senior players and coaching staff he received early on helped him to achieve his goals. Two Rugby World Cups!!

Support and encouragement is just as important for any start-up business and CurrencyFair is no exception. Ireland is a great place to start a business; there is such a wealth of knowledge from seasoned entrepreneurs happy to share their experience as well as government-backed programmes dedicated to driving new growth and re-focusing Ireland’s plans for the future. We work closely with Enterprise Ireland here in Dublin and as we begin to...

This week will see a change in Irish government for the first time since 1997. It seems Fianna Fáil, the outgoing party, has now been held accountable for the current state of the Irish economy resulting in the likely coalition of Fine Gael and Labour.

As an Aussie living in Ireland, I’ve always enjoyed the warm and hospitable good nature of the Irish. They will go out of their way to ensure you’re welcome, well fed and needless to say well watered! Trust me; you’ll never have a better time than out havin’ the craic with the Irish. But as a great man once said “the times they are a-changin’”, and what some may say is a legacy of the outgoing government means that many of us will get to return that hospitality, as emigration is proving a chosen alternative to the current...