REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ALL-IRELAND MARKETING AWARDS BURLINGTON HOTEL, DUBLIN 4
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ALL-IRELAND MARKETING AWARDS BURLINGTON HOTEL, DUBLIN 4 THURSDAY, 12TH MAY, 2011
Dia Dhíbh a chairde. Is mór an onóir agus pleisúir dom bheith anseo libh anocht. Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. I am delighted to be here with you this evening at the All-Ireland Marketing Awards and would like to thank Tom Trainor for his kind invitation to join you for this occasion.
Lord Chesterfield has said that ‘Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore’ and, in many ways, what we are celebrating tonight is courage in difficult times. There is no doubt that the dynamic, adventurous and can-do culture which prospers during an economic boom can also become stifled by fear and doubt when that economic climate becomes more challenging. At times of great economic uncertainty, it is easy, even natural for people to become risk-averse so that instinct to slash marketing budgets, to lower our voice in the market place, to concentrate on simply getting by, or hanging on, is very understandable. When the economic environment is good and funds are plentiful, it is not too difficult to take a risk, to spend money on something that might or might not work out, to put our trust in our imagination and our creativity. However, in times of recession, when the seas are a lot more choppy and the winds a lot harsher, it takes courage and huge self-belief to sail that little bit further from the shore and to go the risky road others have turned their backs on.
Yet if we are to move forward we need momentum and we need people to generate that momentum, resourceful people who do not lie down under a challenge but who think more creatively, who innovate in order to find new pathways to future prosperity. That spirit and those people are what we celebrate in these awards.
Already, that ‘can do’ attitude, typified here this evening, is paying off. Last year saw a strong recovery of export growth and, despite all our problems, the World Bank currently ranks Ireland high among the best places in the world to do business and to start a business. With stability returning to our public finances and our banking system, with a little modest growth on the horizon, the outlook is more positive now than at any point over the past three years. The international marketplace is wakening up to a more reassuring narrative and now we need to keep moving forward. Marketing has always been a key component in the success of businesses, whether they are selling goods or services, in Ireland or abroad. It is a sector that is exciting, innovative and an early adaptor of new technologies and channels.
Albert Einstein once remarked that 'Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.' Entrepreneurial imagination is essential to mustering and maintaining fresh momentum in our economy. It has to be underpinned by wisdom and skill. Effective marketing campaigns are rooted in those realities; they are beholden to such people and they are the people who are rewarded, recognised and encouraged tonight .
I would like to thank all of the nominees and award winners tonight. I thank you for not staying quiet during this recession, for not pulling the duvet over your heads and hoping it would all go away. Your courage and determination restore our confidence in the future and allow us to see that there is a road map to better days ahead. With us here tonight are some of the best marketing and promotion professionals, not just in Ireland, but people who can hold their own in any global context. I thank each one of them for their leadership and I thank the Marketing Institute for the key role it plays in the continuous process of upgrading, upskilling and strengthening Irish marketing skills.
I wish everyone here tonight success for the future and congratulate you all on your achievements.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.