Irish national policy brief

This document describes the current state of policy and context of social inclusion though entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education in Ireland. It is intended to provide the SIATE consortium with the current position of the Irish approach to the implementation of social inclusion measures using entrepreneurship models and education. There is a competency-based teaching approach being implemented in Ireland called Key Skills. This is supported by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). The Irish curriculum – both primary and secondary – is already very full and teachers in both sectors find it difficult to find opportunities to deviate from the established norm. The current teaching approaches have generally not been competency based.
It is widely argued in the international literature that sustainable economies emerge from indigenous entrepreneurial ventures. In Ireland this observation became all the more pertinent in light of the impact of the 2008 crisis in the nation’s economy. Given the enormous contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the worldwide economy, it is not surprising that the Irish Government re-defined and dedicated economic policies in favour of SMEs. This placed the entrepreneur and enterprise at the heart of its efforts to deal with the crisis.
Entrepreneurship education has become increasingly connected with the transformation of Irish society and as a valued element in shaping discourse about a dynamic economic model that actually meets the needs of its citizens as opposed to maximizing the profits of a tiny minority. Public, private and community models of entrepreneurship exist in Ireland and interact and learn from each other.

Disclamer

The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.