Dr. Raftery, this is incredible! I plan to answer this and open the door to possibly doing some teaching in his new global business certificate program. It would be one way to cover travel to Ireland as a business expense.
It would also be a great way to explore business incubation opportunities (practice / teaching) in Ireland, which, according to David, is hurting badly for jobs. He rates Ireland one notch above Greece for economic misery.
My tutor at Trinity College, Dublin, was the late David Andrew Thornley, or DAT, as he signed his memos. Thornley was a pioneer in opening the West of Ireland, the Shannon area, to economic development. I would love to continue in his example, tradition.
He was one of the greatest ever, the youngest professor ever at Trinity, at age 30! He was president of the boxing club at Trinity when he was a student, and this caused students to hold him in awe – including your humble servant here.
Above all, he was superbly smart and polished – and set standards, e.g. come to class in the required academic gowns. As he said, “We are not butchers, bakers, and candle stick makers, and we dress accordingly for our work.”
In my little way, I would like to pick up where he left off – died of diabetes at age 48 in Brussels, Belgium, as Ireland’s representative to the EU. Yes, the “old ruts” – as Taoism teaches – are best.
God willing, McWilliams, if approached properly could be that bridge to an exciting application of business incubation ideas here and there – plus possible Mp3 downloads.
More and more, I see the incubation as the opportunity because nobody is doing it, and we need jobs, here and there.
His mother was Irish, and his father was English. He started life in the UK, but his family left when the Blitz started. He literally told of his being in the subways at night when the German bombers struck.
He admired Churchill for rallying the British people under attack, despite the differences between Ireland and the UK, and Thornley was ambitious in Irish politics, getting elected to Parliament (Dail) as a Labor Member, and eventually becoming Minister of Labor for a short time during a Labor government there. I admire his moral courage – as well as he physical courage as a boxer.
I last saw him and his wife at the concluding Trinity Ball formal. He was smoking a big black cigar!
Yes, McWilliams may be a surprise, God-given, fork in the road. I love his work, vision, analysis, which makes teaming up with him easy.
He wanted at one time to interview me by phone about the voucher schools in Milwaukee, but it did not materialize. I guess he notices that he has a fan in Wisconsin – probably the only one, now, which works for me. He is a Trinity alum, so we have bonded there.
Also, Wisconsin and Ireland did a lot of cross-border sharing of ideas in the 1920’s when Ireland became the Free State. It looked to our cooperative movement and river dam complex as models for the Shannon dams and rural development there. I would love to write a book on this sharing; in fact, I could add my own chapter to it through business incubation.
He wrote a piece on how Ireland needed to foster more homegrown family businesses, not branch plants, familiar story, there, for family businesses tend to stay where the family founded them, e.g. Guinness.
Wow, I cannot grasp yet what may have happened here. Your input is welcome; if things progress, there may be a chance for you to benefit from this. You certainly have the track record – and deserve paid travel to Eire.
Paul
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