Inaugural Valentia Island lecture series to explore ‘interconnected’ world

VALENTIA’S historic role in making the world a smaller place will be celebrated next month with the inaugural Valentia Island Lecture Series at the Cable Station on Friday, July 14.

It all kicks off at 2.30pm and is followed by a gala dinner at The Royal Hotel at 7pm. Fittingly, the lecture theme is ‘Globalisation: our Interconnected World’ which explores how innovation and technology have transformed our lives.

Key speakers include Professor Jeffrey Garten from the US, who has written extensively on globalisation; IDA CEO Martin Shanahan, and Mark Redmond, American Chamber Ireland CEO.

The lecture series is part of The Valentia Transatlantic Cable Foundation’s effort to have its application for UNESCO heritage status recognised.

“The launch of the ‘Valentia Island Lecture’ series is, we believe, particularly timely, given the current debate about the benefits of globalisation, and its impact on the lives of ordinary working people across the globe,” said Leonard Hobbs, Chairperson of Valentia Transatlantic Cable Foundation.

Mr Hobbs added how the first transatlantic cable is an inspiring story of scientific endeavour, innovation, communication, risk taking and entrepreneurship from teams on both sides of the Atlantic who collaborated to achieve what many believed was an impossible task 150 years ago. Contact 085 224 8014.