WEB CONFERENCE:ELECTION CANDIDATES are embracing social media services like Twitter and Facebook and yesterday Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore came face to face with the local techies hoping to emulate the success of the Silicon Valley companies in Ireland.
Mr Gilmore, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny were invited by the Dublin Web Summit to “outline their innovation and enterprise policies” at a special breakfast briefing for the techies.
Mr Gilmore was first to respond and Mr Martin will take up the offer on Monday. Mr Kenny has yet to accept the invitation.
Mr Gilmore’s formal speech played it safe – talking about the importance of technology and its ability to transform the country. All the boxes were ticked – green energy, next generation broadband, iPhone apps and the need for technology to be a driver for change.
Mr Gilmore used the event to announce plans for a new scholarship programme based on the Mitchell scholarship and Rhodes scholarship. It aims to attract young talent from Brazil, Russia, India and China to Ireland.
“Our intention is that these scholars will, over a period of time, develop a bond between Ireland and their home countries. It is one example of the shift in mindset that we need to make,” he said.
Labour’s proposal for a network of innovation institutes, which would bring research from the labs to commercial reality, also got a couple of airings, as did its plans for Netco, a consortium of telecoms companies who will come together to invest €2 billion in building a new high-speed broadband network.
Although some of the attendees, who ranged from serial entrepreneurs to software programmers and venture capitalists to tax advisers, expressed disappointment that the speech was light on detail, Mr Gilmore acquitted himself well when questions were thrown open to the floor. Even a geeky question about “open data” was batted away relatively smoothly.
Micheál Martin may have won the first round in the televised debates but in the battle for the hearts, minds and votes of the “Twitterati”, Mr Gilmore succeed yesterday in throwing down a gauntlet to his opponent.
Paul Cullen adds:Labour's director of elections Ruairí Quinn predicted yesterday the party was on course to win over 40 seats in the next Dáil.
Delivering his assessment of the campaign so far, Mr Quinn said the party was poised to make a historic breakthrough in many parts of the country.
In Connacht–Ulster, support was running at three times its traditional level, according to Mr Quinn, who tipped candidates such as Dr Jerry Cowley to win first-time Labour seats in Mayo.
Labour is running 68 candidates, 18 more than in 2007. In 23 constituencies, it is running more than one candidate.
Labour estimates that 5 per cent of its posters have been blown away in the bad weather. By the end of the campaign, Mr Quinn said, the party will have put up at least 90,000 posters, affixed with 300,000 cable-ties.