This project, currently under consideration with the Irish Government, is both an installation as well as a weekly programme highlighting and celebrating an incredible list of innovations throughout Irish history to the present. As Mr. Liam Nellis, Chief Executive of Intertrader Ireland said, “This island has a fantastic track recorder of giving the world the steam turbine, the submarine, the tractor, cream liqueurs, and humble back rashers.”
The Installation:
As an artist I want to celebrate the Irish spirit of innovation. I am proposing the following installation for the Bank of Ireland building at the end of College Green in Dublin, it is a visual and vital hub that opens to the heart of downtown Dublin. This art/ installation project would joyfully shout out – IRELAND IS INNOVATION! Each niche in the Bank of Ireland building could celebrate a different innovator; inspiring all those who walk by this busy city center location.
The Programme:
In addition we envision this as a cornerstone of an RTE programme called “Ireland is Innovation,” a weekly programme that focuses on all the ways that people are innovative – in community projects, business, arts, science, environment, etc., and with a modest award for the most creative. This kind of weekly programme, along with the larger transformation of the Bank of Ireland with the above project – could give us an increased sense of pride in what an innovative country Ireland is.