Ireland is facing an exciting new world of challenges and opportunities, according to speakers at the Humbert Summer School in Ballina, Co Mayo.
Addressing this year's theme of "Twentieth-Century Ireland: The Balance Sheet", contributors agreed that Ireland's performance over the last century has been progressive.
It can remain so if Irish people take a number of steps - concentrating on becoming an all-inclusive, compassionate and just society and reaching out to less-well-off neighbours in the underdeveloped world.
The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, who opened the summer school, said the successful management of the nation's affairs only began in earnest under the 1987 government of Mr Charles J. Haughey. "The performance of the Irish economy for that period has been stunning and the nature of the challenge we now face is the management of this successful economy," he said.
Mr Sean Donlon, former Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the end of the century marked the positioning of Ireland on the verge of a successful restructuring, thanks to the Belfast Agreement. The Northern Ireland situation had dominated and fettered the conduct of Irish foreign policy heretofore but it should now be possible to develop this policy in a truly independent and unfettered manner, beginning with the normalisation of relations with Britain which will accompany the bedding down of the arrangements in the Belfast Agreement, he said.
Mr Donlon also suggested that the words "traditional policy of neutrality" be eliminated from our foreign affairs dictionary "because there has never been consensus as to what that means and nobody outside the country even begins to understand what, if anything, it means."
Dr Margaret Downes, chairwoman of BUPA Ireland, said capitalism, science and technology were the driving forces in Ireland and amid all the stock of wealth circulation, prosperity and success, we must not lose sight of the fact that there are now greater inequalities between rich and poor than 30 to 40 years ago.
Ms Betty Purcell, editor of RTE's Questions and Answers programme, addressed the issue of media developments in Ireland over the last century and concluded that while information is power, it is still being denied to many people, particularly in the under-developed world. She considered whether information overload could be blamed for the purported drop in universal media standards and cited the Terry Keane Edge column as an example of questionable journalism in terms of any value it contributed to society.
Father Tom Stack argued that the only proper way for the country to manage its new wealth was to develop a civilisation based on community where injustices would be prosecuted and where compassion for our fellow man and woman would be nurtured. He expressed the hope that the media would address its mindset when addressing religious topics by no longer giving in to the temptation to caricature all church and religious-related themes.
Of approximately 200 who attended the first day of the summer school, numerous delegates, particularly those from overseas, commented on how enjoyable it was to analyse, debate and reflect on Ireland's excellent record over the past century.