Commissioner points to positives despite economic gloom

European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has insisted that there is another economy running in parallel with the doom and gloom of the moment.

She said this parallel economy was built on successful exports – with companies wishing to invest and expand in Ireland, while the EU was pressing forward with an emphasis on research and development.

But, she warned that Europe had to keep up its investment in research and that it must compete with economies like China and Japan were way ahead on their level of investment in the area.

Speaking at the opening of the Galway Science and Technology Festival Exhibition, Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn said that in the previous few days, all that she had heard was “doom and gloom and a lot of negativity.”

But, she insisted, there were opportunities for our small and medium enterprises and for young people, if they had the necessary skills in areas such as science and engineering.

See full story and photos in this week's Connacht Tribune.