
See photos of Kerry event attended by businessman Denis O'Brien and host of well-known speakers
The event is held each year to commemorate the world's first transatlantic cable, which was laid between Valentia Island and Heart's Content in Newfoundland, Canada.
The laying of the cable resulted in the first ever message to be transmitted across the ocean in 1858, from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom to President James Buchanan of the United States of America.
This year's edition of the Lecture saw a number of keynote speakers provide a range of perspectives on history, the arts, media, politics, society, technology and business.
The speakers included historian Professor Jane Ohlmeyer of Trinity College Dublin, journalist Mick Clifford, Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae, as well as Denis O'Brien.
Each of the speakers' presentations were followed by a panel discussion with four of Ireland's 'future leaders', all aged in their 30s - the same age as Cyrus Field when he led the transatlantic cable project in the late 1800s.
More than 30 of the future leaders, with expertise in business, politics, academia, media, government, arts and sport, participated in panels.
The Irish Ambassador to Canada, John Concannon, also visited the Lecture alongside James Moloney, MP at the House of Commons in Canada.
The Canadian Embassy in Dublin was represented at the event by the head of political and public affairs, Mr David Kyffin.
A number of Dáil deputies from all over the country and prominent business executives were also in attendance at the event.
Kerry Mayor Mike Foley welcomed the guests to Valentia at a gala dinner at the Royal Hotel and Ambassador Concanon delivered a special after-dinner address.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Rosanna Davison shares ‘genius' parenting hack for ‘long road trips' as fans all say ‘this is brilliant'
ROSANNA Davison has unveiled a parenting hack that's going down a storm with her followers — and it's tailor-made for those long car journeys with little ones. The former Miss World is a doting mum to three kids, Sophia, five, and twins Hugo and Oscar , four. 2 Rosanna Davison has shared her 'genius' parenting hack 2 Rosanna's fans all called the tip 'genius' tips and tricks. Previously, the Irish star has suggested hiding sweets in frozen veg bags to keep kiddos out of treats and bringing essential snacks and toy planes on flights to manage toddler chaos. In a recent video posted to her road trip. The beauty queen started off by taking out a fish net and placing a variety of kid-friendly snacks into it. READ MORE IN ROSANNA DAVISON The businesswoman then began to pass the fish net back to her kids in the back of the car — without having to turn around or stop the car. Once the small hands grabbed the snacks, Rosanna pulled the fish net back to the front of the car and proudly smiled. She wrote in her caption: " Road trip snack hack for parents. Because sharing is caring and it's a long summer !" Rosanna's latest video is proof that parenting doesn't always need to be complicated — it just needs a little spark of creativity. Most read in Celebrity And fans were all left gushing over the simple yet effective tip as they ran to the comment section. star Jenny Lee Dixon wrote: "OK genius I'm using that!" Rosanna Davison shares 'beautiful' snaps from sun-soaked family holiday Kate exclaimed: "THIS IS GENIUS!" Tanya added: "The way the net came back with nothing is making me howl." Tammy said: "Ahahahah that's brill." While Angela remarked: "Thank you for this." This comes after Rosanna added to her ever-growing CV as she science course. BRAIN BOX Taking to family got up. The mum-of-three posted a snap of her laptop screen showing she was doing a deep dive into a research article. The essay on the screen was titled 'Effect of erinacine A-enriched Hericium erinaceus supplementation on cognition: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study'. The 41-year-old captioned the snap: "Anyone else get up before their family to savour the peace and quiet? Bliss. "It's also the only time I have at weekends to get any study done for my BSc degree - working on a Mycotherapy case study at the moment, which has been very interesting."


Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Jim Power: Budget countdown begins with big promises
The publication of the summer economic statement has set the budgetary process in motion, and the destination will be reached in early October. The two relevant ministers have outlined a budget package of €9.4bn, with a net tax package of €1.5bn, and an expenditure package of €7.9bn. This expenditure package will be comprised of current expenditure increases of €5.9bn or almost 75% of the total; and capital spending of €2bn or just over 25% of the total. Proposed Vat cut On the tax side, the Government has given a commitment to reduce the Vat rate for part of the hospitality sector — the food element — to 9% and this would cost around €580m in foregone taxes. If this is delivered and applies from January 1 next, it means that effectively less than €1bn would be available for personal tax changes. To put this in context, it is estimated that a 1% indexation of the employee tax credit would cost around €230m in a full year, so to index for projected inflation in 2026 would cost somewhere in the region of €460m; or a 1% decrease in the 40% tax rate would cost around €540m. If the government delivers the Vat cut from the beginning of 2026, which it has committed to, the tax package will be small. So not surprisingly, there are suggestions that the cut might be delayed until July, thereby significantly reducing the cost in 2026. If this transpires, the hospitality sector would have every right to be aggrieved. Restaurants and food businesses are the most crucial element of our tourism product, and many businesses are struggling to stay afloat. Inflation Data released by the CSO last week show that in 2024, Irish food prices are the third highest in the EU-27 and are 12% above the EU average. In the year to May, agricultural output prices increased by 20.7%, with cattle prices up by 48%. These prices obviously feed into restaurant input costs, but the pressures are compounded by labour costs, insurance, water charges, commercial rates etc. I am a supporter of the reduced Vat rate, and I think it is now more appropriate to provide some limited support to a key employer of people all over the country, and a vital part of the tourism offering, rather than to pump money through excessive expenditure into an economy that is still doing quite well. Does the Irish economic cycle need a continuation of out-of-control current expenditure now? I think not. Even if the Vat cut is pushed out, the extent of the easing of the personal tax burden will be miniscule. We should have learned from the past We should have learned our lessons from the pro-cyclical policies of the past. The summer economic statement projects planned expenditure of €108.7bn this year, which is €3.3bn higher than planned in Budget 2025, and it is likely to turn out even higher than this latest projection. Not surprisingly, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is not happy and has justifiably accused the Government of 'poor planning and budgeting.' Obviously, the ability of the two ministers to deliver the proposed budgetary package, and indeed to deliver the ambitious, but detail lacking, revised National Development Plan, will be heavily contingent on the future performance of the economy, and especially the actions of Donald Trump. Downward creep in projections There is not a lot of detail in relation to economic assumptions in the summer economic statement, but it is interesting to note that for 2025 the Department of Finance is projecting growth of 2% in modified domestic demand (MDD), down from 2.5% in April, and 2.9% in Budget 2025 last October. For 2026, MDD is projected to grow by 1.8%, down from 2.8% in April, and 3% in Budget 2025. There is downward creep occurring in Ireland's economic projections, which seems logical in the context of Trump-induced uncertainty. In relation to the National Development Plan, it is quite amazing that we must await detail on the projected spend until close to budget time. What in the name of God has been happening since January? The aspirations outlined in the revised plan — such as energy, water, housing, transport infrastructure, and climate change — are difficult to argue with, but delivery on time and on budget will be essential. One hopes there will be greater control, transparency and accountability in relation to National Development Plan delivery than we have seen with major infrastructure projects such as the children's hospital and the infamous bicycle shed.


Sunday World
2 hours ago
- Sunday World
INLA issue warning to ‘far-right gangsters' and ‘vermin' drug dealers
Table and stares: armed masked men pose in front of starry plough flag associated with socialist republican groups The three masked men posing with weapons An armed republican group are allegedly warning 'far-right gangsters' and drug dealers they will be taking 'direct action' against them. A statement posted and circulated on social media includes a photo of three masked men posing with what appear to be automatic weapons fitted with silencers. A table in front of the armed men is draped with the starry plough flag usually associated with socialist republican groups. The statement suggests the group has already taken action against criminals in the Crumlin area of Dublin. A social media account supportive of the Irish Republican Party and slain Real IRA leader Alan Ryan posted the statement from the group 'reported to be the Dublin brigade of the INLA'. 'Our organisation has taken action in the Crumlin area, dealing with the antisocial behaviour that has plagued our community. 'As seen, we have taken direct action with housebreakers and other people attacking our community. We have the names of the individuals involved in these crimes against our people. We say to them: be warned, you're next.' The statement on Instagram The statement then turns to drug dealers in the area: 'The working-class communities have been hit hard with the rise of heroin, tablets, crack cocaine dealing, and drug intimidation. 'We reject these vermin; we ask the community to reject them.' Action 'We will be taking direct action with these parasites at the time of our choosing.' 'Our movement has continued to grow in numbers, with our community initiatives, rising numbers of youth coming into our ranks due to our sincere commitment to tackling community issues.' It is also suggested that the group are targeting members of the political far-right, accusing them of recruiting young people to carry out hate-crimes. 'Until now, we have been investigating and gathering intelligence on far-right gangsters trying to drag our youth to jail carrying out hate crimes. 'Our targets are far-right criminals hiking up hate within normal concerned Irish citizen protests.' 'We say to the working class: beware of your surroundings. 'Our volunteers are ready to deliver our response to all anti-community parasites. 'These perpetrators are a blight on our communities, and we ask those within the communities to be vigilant. 'We owe our allegiance to the working class. Saoirse go deo.' A spokesperson for Irish Republican Socialist Party said they were aware of the statement but as a legally registered political party said they had no role to speak on behalf of an armed group. Earlier this year another organisation calling itself the Republican Defence Army warned drugs dealers to leave the north-west of the country. The three masked men posing with weapons Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th