Scotland will borrow from the Irish model of social partnership in order to build a "Celtic Lion economy" that will match the Celtic Tiger, Scottish first minister Alex Salmond said last night.
Mr Salmond, on his first visit to Dublin as head of the devolved Scottish government, said he was a huge admirer of the consensus between partners that had been fashioned in Ireland over a protracted period of time.
"You have pioneered a social partnership model that reaches out beyond government, business and trade unions - to draw in civic institutions, social enterprise, the universities and others.
"This partnership has laid the foundations for two decades of unrivalled economic progress in Ireland - by your own standards and by any global standard."
Mr Salmond made the comments during a public lecture at Trinity College Dublin. He was invited to speak by The Long Room Hub, the university's research institute for the arts and humanities. In "Scotland's National Conversation: The Next Steps", the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) spoke of his experience in government, describing the passage of its first budget last week as a major achievement. He said he would have resigned had the Bill fallen.
Speaking to The Irish Times ahead of the address, he said he was determined that a referendum Bill be taken at parliament in Holyrood by 2010. That would give the electorate the choice of allowing the Scottish government negotiate with the UK government to achieve independence for Scotland, he said.
"They have said about the referendum Bill that we will never get it through the parliament. But they also said that about the budget Bill [last week]. It was passed by 64 votes to seven with 60 abstentions. We have managed thus far."
In the lecture, he said there was an "arc of prosperity" surrounding Scotland that included Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Denmark. All were small and independent, stable, secure and prosperous. "Of all these nations, no example is more impressive and inspiring than Ireland."
Mr Salmond, an economist, suggested that the biggest difference between Ireland and Scotland was evident in economic performance. Praising Ireland's success, he said: "The Scottish story is rather different - not an account of abject failure, but certainly one of sustained underperformance."
He outlined 10 lessons Scotland could learn from Ireland. They included the importance of common purpose, the need to have a robust independence, the severance of links with the UK, investment in human capital and closer links to the EU. Full independence was also vital, he said.
On the Lisbon Treaty, he said the SNP agreed with 90 per cent but the inclusion of fishing (or marine and biological resources) as an exclusive competence was a "red line" issue for the party.
He paid tributes to Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness for "the manner in which they are approaching governance".
