Episode 157 - The Don's Top 20 Countdown: 9 Kieran McGowan

A Pint With Seaniebee

The Don continues her countdown (at 46m) with Kieran McGowan - a true gent, and one of the fathers of Ireland's economic development boom over the last 50 years. We also discuss the latest from the thought police, cancel culture and identity politics; the death of Big Jack; the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell; the hot mess that is the Kanye presidential bid and why many Irish Americans are hijacking the old country to promote their inherently racist ideology. ------------------------------------------------------ Kieran McGowan has a Pint With Seaniebee Today’s pod is the story of how Ireland emerged from sleepy agricultural backwater, to the modern, first world nation it is today. For over three decades, Kieran McGowan was one of the architects of this transition in his position as head of the IDA – the body responsible for attracting overseas investment and bringing jobs to the country. From humble, working class beginnings, he shares what it was like growing up in Dublin in the fifties and sixties; the corruption and graft that so blighted the seventies and eighties; and the subsequent boom and bust of the “Celtic Tiger.” We discuss lessons learnt (and not!) and what can be done to fix today’s Ireland, which appears bereft of creativity and perhaps mired more than ever in procrastination and political inaction across so many important socio-economic issues. LINKS Former Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey: tinyurl.com/y95snfcb Business in the Community initiative: www.bitc.ie/ The IDA: www.idaireland.com A Pint With Seaniebee Top 12 Best New Podcast Series of 2016: tinyurl.com/gps9tn5 Top 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2016: tinyurl.com/hp83rnw Release date: July 15th 2020 Runtime: 95m Recorded: Dublin