Ex-Intel Chief directs his fire at Irish education

I didn't know what to expect from Craig Barrett, the Irish-American former head of Intel, when I heard he'd been made Chairman of the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) last year. At the time all I thought was, "That's a good idea. He'll open a few doors." I never expected he'd actually be so active, so keen to voice his opinion about where Ireland needs to go to achieve economic success in the 21st century.

Barrett {photo} has not been shy. He's been all over the papers and radio expressing his opinions, particularly about the Irish education system. So far the reaction to Barrett's views has been non-existent, possibly because to engage with him would be to call into question some of the sacred cows of the education system.

One of those sacred cows is the Leaving Cert. Ireland's secondary school system is built around the Leaving Cert, which is a series of exams taken at the end of the sixth and final year of secondary school (basically junior high & high school). All the exams count the same, which means an 'A' in Home Economics or Art counts just as much as an 'A' in Math or Physics. Each grade gets so many points and a student's point total determines what college course he or she gets.

All the college places are doled out on the basis of how you did across all your exams^*. This means a genuine math/science geek, one who could be a great software engineer, might lose out on a college place to the kid whose math talent doesn't match his ambitions, but who did better in Spanish and Irish than the geek. The aptitude of the two students is irrelevant.

The system is treated as almost a matter of religious faith here. Anyone who raises the topic is told time and again that "it's the fairest possible" system, which it probably is, but it's designed to reward effort rather than to identify talent and potential of college-bound students.

Barrett says the key to success in the 21st century is to let "smart people get together with smart ideas," but that's not happening enough at the moment. It may not be "fair" on those who worked harder at second level, but we need to get the smartest people studying math and science and that will require a change to how college places are distributed.

This change must be made and is a logical outcome from any discussion framed by Barrett's argument about the future and the Irish government's own repeated statements on building a "knowledge economy." That change, however, would strike at the heart of how university places are decided, which would mean a complete revamp to how the second level system is run.

That's only one aspect of the system called into question by Barrett's analysis. The organization of primary schooling, teacher selection and training, rates of pay, are all matters that must be considered if you take Barrett seriously. I'll know Barrett's constant hammering is starting to hit home when those who have a vested interest in the current system start to take aim at him. For the moment I'm just grateful that the ITLG gave him a platform and that Barrett has been keen not to waste it.

^* Last year an aptitude test was introduced for those who want to study medicine, but it has been widely criticized in the press with many stories of those students who "missed out" despite getting high points totals on their Leaving Certs.

The precious voices of Irish politics

First it was George Lee quitting on politics and his party and now we have another high profile resignation. Today the Green Party's Déirdre de Búrca resigned.

De Búrca was a Senator for the Greens, one of only eight party members in the two houses of the Irish parliament. She got her seat in the Senate when her party entered government in coalition with Fianna Fáil back in 2007.

De Búrca {photo with John Gormley} says she is quitting because she can no longer support a party that has "abandoned our political values and our integrity." She points the finger directly at party leader John Gormley saying he's "done a disservice to the Green Party" by tying the party too closely to their government coalition partners. De Búrca says Gormley has been "unable, or unwilling" to "take a stronger line with Brian Cowen and the Fianna Fáil party" and ignored Green Party principles because the party has become too attached to being in government.

Okay, she's frustrated I can understand that. She wants a stronger leadership from the head of her party, again understandable. What I can't understand is why she's quitting.

She could have led an effort to change leaders, but she chose not to. She could have stayed in, fighting for the party she clearly still believes in, but she chose not to. She chose to quit.

Believe me I'm just as happy because her views rarely matched mine, but I don't like all this quitting. What does it say about people that they'll quit rather than fight? What does it say about us as an electorate that we're represented by such people?

Lee & de Búrca both could have made simple statements that they were leaving politics because they've had a change of heart or decided that it wasn't for them or they wanted to spend more time with their families or whatever. That would have been fine, but instead what we have is people leaving because ... I don't really know ... because no one's listening to them? Gimme a break!

Good riddance I say to both of them. I find it embarrassing that such preciousness exists in the houses of parliament. I don't want to be represented by the type of people who, when angry, wince as they slap you halfheartedly and then turn and run away.

If you believe in what you're doing and in what you can do then fight your corner. But, if you're going to quit, then quit with dignity. Shaddup.

{Kudos to the Green Party for their quick web site fix. De Burca's page has already been purged. The government's own web site should be as quick to treat De Búrca and Lee as non-persons.}

Dublin's drivers beat down on 'bicycle brigade'

It's funny what will light a fire under people. There have been all sorts of government decisions recently that could have sparked a revolt. Yet the people have been pretty accepting of all the budget cuts and bank bail-outs, probably because it was difficult to see any alternative.

All very quiet, until the past couple of weeks when there was an eruption over a new speed limit in Dublin. Dublin City Council voted to reduce the limit from 50 kph (31 mph) to 30 kph (18.6 mph) in the city's central areas.

At first the objectors' concerns and arguments were dismissed. 'People just needed some time to adjust' or 'this will make the city safer and better for cyclists and pedestrians' or 'it's only a limited area.'

It was a typical story until something very unusual happened. The more the City Council tried to ignore the uproar and carry on with their unpopular decision, the more those who opposed the change grew louder, not quieter as usually happens.

Taxi drivers complained that their passengers didn't want them to obey the law and that they were being passed by bikes. But it was the general public's voice that was the angriest. Newspaper columnists and talk radio fed off this anger. People were angry as hell at the decision, out of proportion to the importance of it really, but they were fed up. They weren't going to be dictated to by the "bicycle brigade."

Gradually the one or two politicians who were against the change from the outset were joined by others. Those who'd changed the limit started to waver. They haven't reversed the decision yet, but Dublin City Council has decided to review the decision at its next meeting on March 1, when, most commentators now say, the new limit will be scrapped.

I can't quite figure out why it was this decision and no other that roused people so much. The nation's drivers raised hardly a peep as the government added $0.60 in new taxes on a gallon of gasoline over the past year. We're the only people in the EU who pay a one-off 30% Vehicle Registration Tax on top of the 21% sales tax on all new cars. Municipal parking charges have gone through the roof.

All of these changes are, like the speed limit change, part of a general policy designed to discourage driving (at best, some say it's a war on cars), yet none of these often significant costs managed to cause the stir that a couple of miles of slow (admittedly, ridiculously slow) roads did.

As a car owner I'd like to think this is the beginning of a fightback against those who want to eliminate the automobile or who see drivers as a cash cow waiting to be milked. And I'm curious to see if other popular uprisings like this take hold as people's patience with our rulers wears thin. For the moment I'm assuming this was a one-off.

Irish women must be allowed their dream sleigh ride

The Winter Olympics get underway tomorrow in Vancouver, but there won't be a huge amount of interest here. The winter games, unlike the summer ones, are not a big deal in Ireland.

This year's team consists of six athletes, which I think may be the biggest team Ireland's ever sent to the winter games. I'm not really sure because even the official Olympic Council of Ireland web site offers little enough about Ireland's Winter Olympics past. Ireland sent five athletes to the 2006 games.

Snow and ice are rarities here, there are very few skating rinks, and almost nobody plays hockey so few kids grow up dreaming of partaking in the winter games. All of which makes it imperative that Aoife Hoey and Claire Bergin be allowed to compete in the women's bobsleigh.

Despite all the odds stacked against them, the pair qualified for this year's Olympics. That hasn't been the end of their trial, however. First Australia objected to Ireland's entry because, Australia argued, their region - Oceania - wasn't represented in the women's competition.

I never knew that regions competed at the Olympics, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled yesterday that both Ireland and Australia should both be allowed to take part in the women's bobsleigh. Australia will compete under the Oceania flag, I'm sure. Regardless the Irish team was safe.

Now the Brazilians are offering another argument as to why the Irish women should be excluded. The Irish Times says there's confusion as to what exactly is the Brazilians' problem, but it seems to stem from the fact that the Irish women were late to enter the qualifying campaign. So they got a late start, but still managed it and that should count against them?

I know what you're thinking, sounds a lot like the movie Cool Runnings. Yes, except the happy ending isn't written yet. And we're not talking about 4 easy-going Jamaican fellas, but two determined Irish women.

There'd be a lot less "peace be da journey" and a lot more, as the Fighting 69^th cried heading into battle, "Faugh-a-ballagh." That's Irish (Gaelic) for "clear the way", which based on my experience, would be excellent advice if these two Irish women are unjustly denied their Olympic dream.

In addition to Hoey and Bergin, the Irish Olympic team consists of Pat Shannon (men's skeleton), Kirsty McGarry (women's slalom), Shane O'Connor (men's slalom) and PJ Barron (men’s cross-country skiing). I'm sure you'll join me in rooting for them to do well and, from what I gather, there's no fear they'll beat your any of your favorite athletes to a medal. You'll have no conflicting loyalties. It's all about competing for the Irish athletes.

Lee leaves Fine Gael looking like losers

Big doings here today, if you're one of those who is obsessed by the minutia of Ireland's politics. RTE's former Economics Editor and the nation's favorite merchant of doom, George Lee, announced today that he was quitting politics, quitting the Dáil and quitting the Fine Gael party less than a year after he quit RTE to "get off the fence" and work to "ensure the country got better Government."

That was in May of 2009 and now it looks like Lee (photo - right) will be looking to get back on the fence at RTE.

Undoubtedly this was a tough decision for Lee, but what of his former party and its leader Enda Kenny (photo - holding Lee's arm aloft)?

Fine Gael is Ireland's second biggest political party and was seen as pretty much shoo-ins for victory in the next election, even if that's still two years away. The country is on its knees and the biggest political party, Fianna Fáil, is generally regarded as responsible.

Right now there are over 400,000 unemployed, thousands of small businesses are on the rocks, the banks are still in a vegetative state and will probably need more taxpayer help. Recovery will be slow and painful, which should all but guarantee a mood for big change in the political sphere.

As far as the electorate is concerned Fianna Fáil turned a blind eye (at best) to shady practices in property development and neglected its responsibilities in regulating the banks who loaned the money to the property developers. In other words, this is a golden opportunity for Fine Gael to shine. All they have to do is prove they can manage things better than Fianna Fáil. That's not too much to ask, is it?

But they're Fine Gael.

Being Fine Gael means never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. It means always a bridesmaid never a bride. It means you can use whatever cliche for LOSER you want to use because Fine Gael are losers.

Now for the most part they're likable losers. I'm sure the Fianna Fáil party loves them because it's always nice to have a loser as your main rival; someone you can count on to do something really stupid at the worst possible time. Or any other time as well. That's Fine Gael.

George Lee is leaving Fine Gael because, he says, he had no influence in shaping the party's economics policies. At the time he quit RTE to join Fine Gael Lee was easily the most well known and respected economist in the country. Having warned us for years that the sky was falling, he was almost a god in people's eyes when it did, in fact, fall.

And how did Fine Gael use this uniquely popular and intelligent and respected resource? Basically as a meet and greet guy, sort of a pretty face for a poster campaign, but not someone whose views you'd actually take seriously. It just seems so stupid that it's beyond comprehension. But they're Fine Gael.

Now Lee's gone, FG's lost their poster boy and, possibly, their best opportunity in a generation to actually win an election, which they haven't managed since 1982. They've managed to look worse than Fianna Fáil and that's hard work. Losers.

Super Bowl's too late for this Yank in Ireland

It's Super Bowl Sunday and I know what you're thinking: is this guy who calls himself The Yank going to watch the biggest game of the year. And the answer is ... sort of.

You can find the Super Bowl on TV here and there are a few gatherings of Americans and Irish football fans - there are some - around Dublin to watch the game. I won't be there.

I'll be watching from the comfort of my own home. For a while. Kickoff is at 11:25pm, which means the game won't be over til sometime after 2:30. I can tell you for a fact I won't see the finish. I might make it to half-time, but there's no chance I'll stay awake through that even if The Who's blasting "Won't Get Fooled Again" (which I love).

It's not just the late start, however. Back in 2006 when the Mets had that (almost) magical season, I never missed an inning of their playoff games. I stayed up for every single game - and most of them started at 1:20am. By the time the Mets were eliminated I had trouble sleeping at nighttime.

It's not just the Mets either. I've often stayed up for a Playoff or World Series game that didn't involve the Mets. I skipped sleep for many Yankee-Red Sox games over the years. I love playoff time.

That's just it. I love baseball, but I don't love football. I never did. Okay, maybe I did when I was in high school, but I never liked it more than baseball and over the years I've lived here my interest in football has waned.

I don't pay the extra $30 per month to get Sky Sports - part of Rupert Murdoch's empire - which shows two or three NFL games a week. I can watch only one NFL game a year, the Super Bowl.

So who am I rooting for today? I know the sentimental favorite is New Orleans, but back when I cared about football I always rooted for the team from the coldest city. {I never liked the warm, neutral venue thing.} That's Indianapolis this year and I like the idea that Peyton Manning uses the Irish language to call his audibles.

So I guess I'll be rooting for the Colts. Unless I change my mind before I drift off.

PIGS or PIIGS we all pigged out on debt

PIGS. Have you seen this acronym? It's only in the business pages and if you have seen it used it's because the PIGS are putting pressure on the euro, causing a sharp decline in the value of the European currency in recent days.

So what is or are PIGS? The PIGS are four European nations with severe fiscal problems: Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain. Or maybe not. Some say it stands for Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain.

And now there's some bad feeling over what that "I" stands for.

Michael Casey, former Chief Economist of the Irish Central Bank, says that PIGS includes Italy and that PIGS is simply a new way of referring to the EU members along the Mediterranean, or those that used to be known as the 'Club Med' members, which was another way of saying 'not really sound economically.'

Forbes magazine and others agree with Casey and put Italy and not Ireland in the PIGS group.

The Italians don't see it that way. The Italians say that their economic problems are not as bad as Ireland's and that Ireland, not Italy, is the "I" in PIGS. Citibank agrees with them, possibly because Citibank is more afraid of offending their clients in Italy than those in Ireland.

Casey says Ireland doesn't belong in the PIGS group because despite the seriousness of our current situation we have a better record than Italy, we have fewer long-term structural problems and, with a bit of luck, our economy could rebound quickly.

The earliest mention of this term I can find is from the Wall Street Journal of December of last year. The Journal doesn't claim to have coined the expression, but rather attributes it to traders worried about the "weaker members of the eurozone." However, the Journal said the term was PIIGS, including both Ireland and Italy.

Now it's all a bit rich coming from those "traders" because (a) it was their fellow financial wizards who put us in this mess in the first place and (b) they are most likely based in America or in Britain, two countries hardly in great economic shape themselves. In fact, one analyst says that there are seven big states that may be worse off than the PIGS group. Those states are not small and peripheral but California, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, and New Jersey.

So, let's face it whether Ireland or Italy is the "I" in PIGS or whether it's PIIGS the truth is that we all, including Britain and America, were piggin out at the debt-filled trough and now we're paying the price for that.

Automatic instincts compound Toyota problem

I was reading this story about the family in California who were all killed when their Toyota's accelerator got stuck and the thought struck me: why didn't the guy just take the car out of gear? I wasn't being critical so much as wondering why he didn't do that given he had time to make a phone call.

I thought about it a bit more and figured I was thinking like someone who drives a manual transmission car. When you drive an automatic - as most Americans do and as I did before I left - you don't think about gears. The car's always in "drive", even when you're stopped at a traffic light. If you're used to driving a manual transmission you're always shifting up and down and into neutral at lights, etc.

I think this has an impact on a driver's reactions in situations like poor Mark Saylor found himself in. I'm not talking about judgment so much as instinctual reaction. The instincts you acquire when you drive a manual are different.

The article in the Dublin paper the Evening Herald says there have been thousands of accidents in America attributed to this problem, but only 26 in Europe. There might be differences in the numbers of cars affected between the two continents, but I can't help wondering if the popularity of manual transmissions in Europe accounts for some of that difference. Around 80% of cars sold in Europe have a manual transmission, which is nearly the complete opposite of America.

I had an 'accelerator issue' myself once. A few years ago my car suddenly seemed to lurch and then push on faster than I wanted (it was a throttle issue). My first reaction was simply to put both feet down: one on the brake, but the other on the clutch. As soon as I hit the clutch the engine disengaged, which was a lot better than hoping the brake could hold back the racing engine. I didn't really think about what I was doing, but just reacted that way. Once I felt I had control again, I worked my way down through the gears til I was comfortable with the car.

Someone driving an automatic could accomplish the same thing by shifting to neutral or downshifting, but that's not an instinctive reaction. When you drive an automatic your only instinct would be to hit the brake, which is not really the best answer to the problem.

Few people who drive automatics have used the gears to slow the car. I would guess that a lot of people who drive automatics don't even know they can do that. {Although I do remember my father telling me to downshift if the brakes ever failed in our family's automatic transmission car.}

Using the gears to control the car is not instinctive for people who drive only automatics. It would be much more of a routine action for anyone who drives a manual transmission, something they would do without thinking. Something they would do on instinct.

Instinct is often the only thing you have time for when something unusual happens on the road or when you're heading towards panic. In the case of the Toyota accelerator problem, those who drive manual transmissions would find that their instincts are a great help.

Robbie Keane won't carry Celtic to the title

I have to get something off my chest. I don't like Irish national team captain Robbie Keane. Don't rate him, don't like him. This puts me outside the pale with Irish soccer fans, who adore Keane.

This also probably puts me outside the pale with Irish Central's Cathal Dervan too and who am I to argue with Cathal Dervan? His knowledge of soccer is encyclopedic and mine is, well, not.

So why do I feel this way about Keane?

I guess it's because he reminds me of way too many Mets - one of those guys who was full of youthful promise that was matched with an arrogance not supported by any on-field performance. You know the type: has his elaborate "ain't I great" celebrations all worked out and his autobiography written in his head before he's put in a full year at the professional game. Then he follows all of that with a patchy career that can be summed up as ... ehh.

I'm not saying Keane is no good, but he's clearly not great. He didn't fare too well at Inter Milan early in his career and after achieving some success and becoming a crowd favorite at Tottenham Hotspur, he spurned Spurs and left for one of Europe's glamor clubs, Liverpool, where he was a flop. Back to Tottenham then and a bit of success, but as Tottenham has risen to the top ranks of the EPL this year, Keane has found his playing time reduced. So, he's a decent player for a mediocre team. Nothing more.

As for his time with the Irish squad, Keane has scored a lot of goals, but he hasn't been able to carry the team to the promised land, unlike another Keane who managed that feat back in 2002. Robbie Keane is not the kind of player who lifts a team, who inspires players to play beyond themselves and that's unfortunately what Ireland needed from him the past 4 years.

Yesterday Keane moved to Glasgow Celtic. Dervan says that Keane "will provide the missing wow factor" for Celtic. Well, maybe he will. From my non-expert vantage, the Scottish league seems much inferior to the English league, which should suit Keane just fine. Maybe he'll shine there. I really don't know, but I sincerely doubt he'll be anything like as successful as Celtic's Swedish star Henrik Larsson was.

It's not just Irish fans and Dervan whose opinion I'm fighting, but his former (& possibly future) manager at Tottenham. Harry Redknapp says he wants Keane back when this season's done. {One of the oddities of soccer is that players can be loaned out to other clubs. Keane is only "on loan" at Celtic.} Redknapp also says Keane is a hard worker and has "great enthusiasm for the game," which is a definite plus and a credit to him.

And then there are the seemingly thousands of Glasgow Celtic fans who, based on the scenes from Glasgow last night, are thrilled to have Keane in the their team. It's hard to pick out Keane (lower right) in the picture amidst all the Celtic fans straining to touch his garments. Obviously they see something in Keane that I just don't.

They expect Keane to lift Celtic up and over their arch-rivals Glasgow Rangers to the league title. I won't hold my breath.

Jedward - innocent heroes in a cynical industry

Okay, brace yourselves. It's entirely possible you've never heard of Jedward, in which case you don't have an opinion on the Irish twins. If, however, you have had the "pleasure" then you might be taken aback by what I'm about to say. I'm shocked myself.

I like Jedward. Now, truth is, I'd sooner have root canal than endure their singing and dancing routine, but as I was watching them being interviewed by the BBC's Jonathan Ross on Friday night I found myself liking them more and more.

So what's to like? I guess it's the complete naivety of the two of them. I considered the possibility that it's all an act - and it might well be - but even if it's an act the way the two of them are always in synch with the innocence is tremendous. But, I actually don't think they're acting. I think what you see is pretty much what they really are.

John and Edward Grimes are sort of antiheroes of today's pop culture. They are completely devoid of cynicism; they're optimistic and seemingly impervious to any negative thoughts (Simon Cowell threw all he could at them and it just bounced off); and they're ..., they're ... wholesome, safe for kids to enjoy too.

Again, I don't want to see them perform - you can get a flavor of them here - but young girls seem to like watching them. As a father of a young girl, I don't object. I think most teenage girls find them hilarious, which I guess I can sort of see. Younger kids, say under 10, adore them.

To be honest, I hardly paid any attention to them when they were on the X Factor. It's not my cup of tea. Yet, I could hardly avoid the conversation and it was interesting to witness the mood change towards them. Initially, most people couldn't stand them because they couldn't sing (or dance apparently). Yet week after week they won people over and it has to be their attitude that was the difference.

They didn't win and they may vanish from the public eye in the not-too-distant future - how long can they remain that innocent in such a cynical industry? - but I think their name(s) will be remembered a lot longer than any of those contestants who went further in the competition than Jedward. And for how long can they team up with obnoxious has-beens like Vanilla Ice and remain unaffected? I don't know, but for now I wish them luck.