"Recession - What Recession"

08 July 2008

Celebrity Lawyer Dr Gerald Kean addressed Kerry's Leading Business Women at a breakfast briefing at Fels Point Hotel, Tralee entitled Recession - What Recession?   Renowned raconteur, Dr. Kean held the audience captivated with his very entertaining stories of life as a celebrity lawyer before moving onto the more serious subject of the economy.

Dr Kean spoke of the need for a strong government to sail the country through the rocky waters of the current down turn and to prevent it from turning into a full blown recession.  He also called on the government to listen to the people and cited the recent No Vote in the Lisbon Treaty as an example of how the Government has suffered through being out of touch with the public.  The leading lawyer and public commentator called for the abolition of VAT for companies with a turnover of €750,000 or less in order to save many small businesses from going to the wall.  Another of his recommendations included the reduction of stamp as a means of injecting some energy into the flagging economy.  While admitting to having been a strong critic of former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, Dr. Kean advocated the need for leadership skills similar to his in difficult times and he commended Charles Haughey for adopting tax and spending cuts in his third term that set the foundation for the Celtic Tiger. Strong leadership is required in these times Dr. Kean emphasised before ending his keynote speech to rapturous applause from the 150 strong audience.

This inaugural business breakfast for Kerry's leading women in business was sponsored by Business Munster Magazine, The  Leading Business Women's Breakfast is set to become an annual event said Michael Mulcahy who added that he was delighted with the response from Kerry's business women. Speaking at Fels Point Hotel Mr. Mulcahy added "Kerry has a wealth of female business talent who have contributed enormously to the success and ongoing development of the Kerry economy. Business Munster is delighted to work with the business women and business communities of Kerry and we look forward to developing an even stronger relationship with Kerry in the future".

At the event, the 2008 Life Time Business Achievement Award was given to Margaret Dwyer founder member of the Rose of Tralee Festival.  Margaret, who will shortly be celebrating her 90th birthday, was pivotal in launching Kerry's biggest international festival forty nine years ago.  Margaret is still an active member of the business community in Kerry and was a very popular recipient with guests, who gave her a standing ovation.  Margaret was overwhelmed with the award and spoke very movingly and eloquently about her experiences in Kerry over the years, starting with her arrival in the town from America, almost 50 years ago as a young widow with two young sons.  Margaret's live has been documented in "Across the Waves" a book written by her son Ryle Dwyer, who lives in Tralee is a historian, journalist and political commentator. Margaret's other son, Sean who was born two months after her husband Johnny died in World War 2 lives in the States.