Tech Leaders Gather in Ireland

Conference outlines Ireland’s position as a global and European digital hub

Tech leaders were today told that Ireland remains a strong and attractive destination for investment from the digital and technology sector.

In a video address to the Digital Ireland Conference in Dublin Castle, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD, said:

“Today’s event reflects the high priority we attach to the digital transition in Ireland. Ensuring that enterprise and wider society can benefit from digital technologies is more important than ever, given the challenges both businesses and the public are facing in the current economic climate.

“We are particularly conscious of the challenges facing the tech sector and will do all we can to support those impacted. Ireland remains committed to being a digital leader in Europe, and beyond; to driving our own digital transformation; and to ensuring that Ireland’s regulatory framework is equipped to play its part.”

Delivering the Opening Address in Dublin Castle, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD, said:

“The future is digital. The world has been transformed in the last twenty years by the internet, social media, smart phones, apps and electronic payments and services. This transformation has only just begun. It’s just been a taster of what’s yet to come. In the next twenty years it will continue with virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and robotics making our lives unrecognisable compared to the lives we live today.

“Today’s Conference demonstrates Ireland’s ambition and focus as a leading global digital hub – a great place for continued investment; a digital front-runner; and the location of some of the most important regulators in the digital sphere in Europe.

“Our Conference comes at a challenging time for the tech sector. My sympathies are with all those who have received bad news in recent weeks. The Government will assist those affected as they seek alternative employment or other opportunities. There is still high demand for tech, marketing and other skills in the Irish economy and there is a strong pipeline of new investments from overseas and within Ireland.

“Embracing digital technologies is crucial for our continued economic progress as well as for meeting the demands of our people in a modern society. A competitive, innovative and resilient enterprise base will provide high-quality jobs and employment opportunities for people to live and prosper in all parts of the country. Businesses can harness digital technologies in many ways – including to better understand their customers, reduce their costs and improve their products.”

The high-level, one-day Digital Ireland Conference explored Ireland’s unique offering as a digital front-runner in Europe and how Ireland can maximise its strong digital track record, through the presence of leading global tech companies, innovative start-ups and related regulatory requirements.

Addressing the Conference, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, said:

“The opportunities that digital technologies provide for Ireland’s creative sector and cultural output cannot be understated. Ireland’s position as a digital hub places these opportunities at our fingertips and this Government is committed to realising these and supporting creativity and innovation.

“Ireland also has an obligation to deliver and resource a modern and robust regulatory framework to ensure that people, especially children, are kept safe online. We are driving that agenda strongly with the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill which I hope to have enacted by the end of the year which will enable the establishment of a new regulator, Coimisiún na Meán. Through our National Digital Strategy, Ireland has committed to delivering a balanced digital regulatory framework which will help to foster and sustain a dynamic, creative and innovative online culture.”

Closing the Conference, the Minister of State for Company Regulation, Digital and Trade Promotion, Dara Calleary TD, said:

“If we are to seize the opportunities presented by new technologies and the digital economy, we must ensure the right regulatory frameworks are in place. Ireland recognises the unique role that we have in regulating some of the leading global technology firms in the world. We take our obligations very seriously, and we are committed to a coherent, effective, modern, well-resourced regulatory framework.”

What to see in Ireland

There's nothing quite like a visit to the Emerald Isle to cleanse your soul and reinvigorate your spirit. Home to some of the world's greenest, most breathtaking landscape, Ireland brims with tourist attractions so appealing, you'll want to visit them all.

From the captivating Cliffs of Moher that will leave you gob-smacked to the bright lights of Dublin's Grafton Street to the hallowed halls of Trinity College, you'll find plenty of fun things to do in Ireland. The hard part will be choosing which fascinating attractions should top your must-see list.

Whether you're hoping to spend time pursuing Ireland's endless number of outdoor activities (we're talking horseback riding, waterfall hiking, golf, and sailing) or hope to study the works of some of the country's most famed artists in state museums and galleries, you won't be at a loss for intriguing ways to spend your time.

Discover all the things to do in this stunningly attractive country with our list of the top tourist attractions in Ireland.

1. The Cliffs of Moher (see photo above)
2. Grafton Street, Dublin
3. Killarney National Park and Muckross House & Gardens
4. The Book of Kells and Trinity College, Dublin
5. Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin
6. The Ring of Kerry
7. Glendalough, Co. Wicklow
8. Powerscourt House and Gardens, Co. Wicklow
9. The Rock of Cashel
10. National Museum of Ireland, Dublin and County Mayo
11. Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone
12. Kinsale, Co. Cork
13. The Dingle Peninsula and the Wild Atlantic Way
14. Torc Waterfall, Killarney National Park
15. St. Stephen's Green, Dublin
16. Bunratty Castle & Folk Park
17. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
18. The English Market, Cork
19. The Aran Islands
20. Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny
21. The Little Museum of Dublin

READ MORE...

Alcohol Endangers the Heart

How much alcohol is safe to drink? It sounds like a simple question, but it is hard to figure out from health authorities because there is such a wide discrepancy in advice between different countries.

It can get even more confusing because they don’t agree on how much alcohol is in a standard drink. For example, in Austria, a standard drink is a whopping 20 grams of alcohol, compared to just 8 grams in Iceland. In the United States, a standard drink is considered 14 grams of alcohol, which is around the amount contained in a 1.5-ounce shot of distilled spirits, a 12-ounce beer, or a 5-ounce glass of wine. Of course, you also have to pay attention to the specifics of your drink, because your favorite double IPA may have twice the alcohol content of a regular beer.

And even if you figure it out completely, the recommendations from your health authorities may be too high according to new research. In the study, scientists found that to minimize your risk to the heart, you should limit your consumption to less than 5 cans of 4.5% beer or less than one bottle of wine per week.

Levels of alcohol consumption currently considered safe by some countries are associated with the development of heart failure, according to new research presented at Heart Failure 2022, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

“This study adds to the body of evidence that a more cautious approach to alcohol consumption is needed,” said study author Dr. Bethany Wong of St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. “To minimize the risk of alcohol causing harm to the heart, if you don’t drink, don’t start. If you do drink, limit your weekly consumption to less than one bottle of wine or less than three-and-a-half 500 ml cans of 4.5% beer.”  READ MORE...

What is Life

In 1943, one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, famous for his equation and his cat, Erwin Schrödinger, turned his attention to a problem that was seemingly simple but defied an easy answer. As World War 2 raged, he published a book titled What is Life?

Based on a series of lectures given in Dublin, the book’s theme was to answer the question: “how can the events in space and time which take place within the spatial boundary of a living organism be accounted for by physics and chemistry?”

In other words: What is Life? Or, from a physicist’s point of view, how can life arise from inanimate matter.

Much of the lecture discussed the requirement for genetic material and some sort of encoding as well as how life related to thermodynamics — the laws governing energy, heat transport, and disorder.

Although their success largely depended on Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray diffraction experiments, Francis and Crick would also credit Schrödinger’s work for inspiring their research resulting in the discovery of the DNA double helix.

Schrödinger’s primary insight is that life creates order from disorder. In a universe governed by the 2nd law of thermodynamics, that all things tend to maximal disorder, living things maintain small enclaves of order within themselves. Moreover, if you look down to the atomic level, you find that the interiors of living things are extremely chaotic. Heat and molecules diffuse through rapid motion. Everything seems random. Yet the living thing persists, turning all that small scale chaos into large scale order.

Human built machines, by contrast, attempt to maintain order down to the smallest relevant levels. Microchips, for example, depend on orderly transfer of data down to nanometers. Precision machine tools, likewise, function because they have an exact specification at nearly the molecular level. The result is that human tools require careful protection and maintenance and break easily when subjected to the elements.

Life, on the other hand, has withstood the elements for billions of years precisely because it is able to build order out of chaos.  READ MORE