Week 2: Exploring the Docklands!

     As a part of the global seminar titled "Ireland's Silicon Valley," it makes sense that one of the highlights of my time in Dublin would be the week we spent learning about Dublin's Silicon Docks. By the end of the first week on the global seminar, I had become comfortable in the routine of class followed by an adventure in the city. So, week two being chock-full of guest lecturers and walking tours was a welcome and exciting change! We started the week off with a guest lecture from someone who had worked on the Dublin Docklands initiative from the very beginning. Around the 1980's, the docklands (the area of Dublin connecting the River Liffey to the Irish Sea and the Grand Canal) were a fairly rundown and abandoned part of the city. By the early 2000's, however, the city had begun a massive initiative to bring in companies from abroad an create a tech hub. Our first speaker described the glamour of the early days in the Silicon Docks project and what it was like to see the companies rise up out of (what felt like) nowhere and establish themselves in the area. 

    Our next speaker of the week was a woman currently working for IDA Ireland, the company responsible for recruiting new companies to establish themselves in the area. We were given a sense of the benefits that Dublin can provide companies and what it takes to make contact and create connections with major organizations. She provided us with an idea of the daily work involved with developing the area and what the plans for the future of the Docklands are.

  The day following these speakers was spent on a tour of the docklands. It was fascinating to have heard a bit about the history of the companies and where the area was headed and then to see it for ourselves. On this tour we were given a more expansive idea of how the docklands had been used prior to the Silicon Docks project. We heard of how early Dubliners built a retaining wall to handle the tides of the river and designed canals going through the entire country to create the docklands. We ended by learning about how crucial the area has been during various points in Dublin's history.

    The week ended with a tour of the Department of Foreign Affairs and a roundtable with some of the influential leaders in the department. Although not directly related to the docklands, from this experience we gained a broader picture of the impact that bringing in these outside companies has had on the city, both negatively and positively. This was one of the most unexpected and coolest parts of the week! Besides the department itself being gorgeous and historically significant, I learned so much more about Irish government and the way a smaller country that is a part of the EU handles foreign relations. It was an incredible end to an educational, fascinating, and eye-opening week that I will never forget!