Arriving in Dublin

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Hydra in front of anti-racism poster in Dublin

26.09.2016
Michael Lenahan

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Arriving in Dublin

Drupalcon Dublin is starting this week. Particularly exciting one for me since
I went to university here about a million years ago (a.k.a. the early nineties).

This was another era entirely, before the internet. I think the arrival of the
internet changed Ireland even more than most other countries. It is mainly
rural, and stuck on the western edge of Europe on the Atlantic. "Surrounded by
water" as the song says. The water comes down from above as well. Very, very
frequently.

So Ireland remains geographically on the edge of Europe, but digitally it is
extremely connected. Companies from Silicon Valley discovered a country with a
young and educated workforce, so they set up their European operations here from
the late 1990s on.

This changed Ireland. For most of its recent history it had been a poor country
where people mostly emigrated to find work. The Catholic church had a lot of
power over society in general, the health and education systems in particular.

Now, there are many foreigners living here and you hear people from all over the
world who speak English with Irish accents. This is something that is still
quite amazing for me.

It's a privilege to be here. Thank you, erdfisch! More to come ...

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