Fintan O’Toole received praise for his article concerning Ireland’s less than ideal performance in indigenous innovation (“Ireland’s inadequate innovation while being a global power in complacency and self-congratulation”, Opinion & Analysis, May 28th). He accurately drew our attention to the issue of national complacency and self-gratification about our economic index while we still trail in global native innovation ratings.
Despite multiple governmental efforts to improve the situation, we continue to rely heavily on foreign corporations for our national wellbeing, seeing no notable advancement so far. As a long-standing expert in public research innovation, I have felt the stark contrast in innovation aptitude amidst us and other small nations such as Denmark, which O’Toole mentioned as a prime exemplar.
Denmark, with a population matching ours, has accumulated its wealth mainly through domestic businesses as opposed to foreign multinationals. Many companies in Denmark are leading the way in science and technology, with many germinating from family run businesses and maintaining robust research and development departments. A key instance is Novo Nordisk, currently Europe’s foremost pharmaceutical company.
Novo Nordisk began its journey a hundred years ago producing insulin from pig pancreas, achieving its present stature through constant growth while staying ahead in emerging technologies. Uniquely, their main stakeholder is a humanitarian foundation, denoting a shift from pure profit pursuit.
In more recent times, Denmark has attained a dominant role in the global wind energy sector, exporting similar quantities as our food industry. The Danish government incentivised this sector’s growth following the 1973 energy crisis, highlighting their dependency on imported energy, a situation familiar to Ireland.
Their successful turn to wind energy, due to the country’s windy climate and eco-friendly attributes, aligns with Ireland’s current rationale. While Irish efforts were consumed in opposing a nuclear alternative, Denmark was proactively cultivating their homegrown wind energy industry.
I remember a time when ESB sought to explore wind energy through wind mini- turbines distributed around Ireland, however, no significant advancement seems to have been made.
Might the inability to foster an innovation-led domestic talent, similar to what Denmark has accomplished despite numerous attempts to do so, suggest a deep-seated flaw within our national mentality? This flaw would seemingly allow us to conceive grand ideas, but hinder us from effectively executing them. Kind regards,
William Donnelly,
(Ex-Managing Director,
Moorepark Technology Ltd),
Clybaun,
Galway.