Why study in Ireland?
Ireland have always been a challenger nation, facing up to the competition of bigger and better-resourced countries. We have addressed this challenge not by trying to clone what other nations are already doing, but by adopting a more pioneering approach that sees us creating our own niches and our own areas of specialisation. Above all else, we have been entrepreneurial as a nation, looking to find new solutions for problems that were once seen as intractable. Our expertise has helped turn arid lands of Africa into fertile farming lands. Our innovations in food production have seen a country of five million people produce enough to feed sixty million. And in aviation, the Irish model of low-cost commuting has revolutionised the face of European travel.
Our percentage of self-employed and small or medium-sized enterprises is further proof of our commitment to ploughing our own furrow, making new opportunities for ourselves instead of simply following the herd. We consistently over-index in terms of success stories on the world stage, whether it’s in commerce, economics, science, entertainment or the arts. And underlying each of these successes is a culture of looking to the future rather than resting on the present. The graduates that result from this culture of entrepreneurship and of pioneering progress are stars of the global business world, not to mention leading the charge in the fields of academia and research.
Having the ambition to change tack is one thing but being agile and nimble enough to do so is another thing completely. Ireland is a nation that has traditionally excelled at changing direction quickly and efficiently, with an attitude of willingly embracing the opportunities that change offers us. Within a single decade, for example, we had transformed ourselves into a global financial services sector and home to pretty much every bank or financial services company around the world. In a similar timeframe, a daring tax regime and a highly skilled and well-educated workforce saw us take our place as the Silicon Valley of Europe. But this is just the start of it. Our people are ready, willing and able to address ‘the next big thing’, to address the opportunities and the challenges that tomorrow will inevitably bring. Without a doubt, studying in this environment of super-fast responsiveness makes its mark on our graduates. They are highly adaptive, highly resilient, and highly skilled at skating to where the puck is going, not to where it is at the moment.
