The dinner was organised as part of an ongoing initiative that aims to provide for continuing dialogue between the public and private sectors. At its heart is the Programme for Government -- its top priority, growing the regional economy and the emphasis it gives to modernising the delivery of high quality public services.
The topic fro discussion was the Creative Industries, their potential to generate wealth, and the roles of both the public and private sectors in investing in and supporting local talent and ideas that have commercial potential but need nurturing.
The selection of the Creative Industries as the topic started with the notion that culture and creativity drive economic and social development as well innovation and cohesion. While for many the arts are a matter of enlightenment and entertainment, they, and more prosaically the creative industries, are significant contributors to a regional, SME weighted economy such as ours. For the purposes of discussion the Creative Industries were considered to include: the visual and performing arts; heritage; film and video; television and radio; electronic games; music; books and printed material; design and fashion, architecture and advertising; and related industries such as computer hardware and software, MP3 players, mobile phones etc.