Mr. Philip King:

I agree with every word the Chairman said, really. We have a magnificent resource but are not tending it. We are not giving oxygen to that priceless resource. One cannot apply the standard granular metric to the outcomes from this resource because they are civilising and humanising. The Chairman referred to technology and the all pervasive screen life, the antidote to which will be in the human tactile and visceral engagement enabled by art and its humanising quality. It is something that will differentiate Ireland's offering to the world and its own people. Of that, there is no doubt. At the risk of repeating myself, we are looking a gift horse in the mouth. We have the resource. Other societies and places in the world would kill for what we have but we take it for granted that it is there and will tip away. We must be strategic, clever and thoughtful about this particular resource. That will repay handsomely in every part of our lives economically, socially, culturally and politically.