Returning to Ulysses: The Need for Ireland's Higher Education Institutions to Re-imagine the Provision of Entrepreneurship Education

This paper is a detailed analysis of entrepreneurship education in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on the island of Ireland based on a survey of all twenty-six institutions. The paper examines the number and types of courses and activities currently being offered to students and concludes that the vast majority of the existing provision is quite traditional in its approach. It is further argued that entrepreneurship education needs to be re-imagined if it is to meet the needs of Ireland’s current economic and social challenges, and that educators should seek inspiration from some of the island’s most creative artists from its rich artistic culture. The efforts to promote entrepreneurship amongst young people on the island of Ireland have become increasingly active over the past fifteen years. According to Hynes (1996) the increased interest in entrepreneurship education and training can also be attributed to the changing structure of the Western economy, the trend in downsizing in large companies, changing business patterns, and developing market economies in other parts of the globe. This paper seeks to examine what has altered in the intervening period, particularly given the background of the devastating economic recession that has hit Ireland, plus the new wave of emigration that has become an increasingly popular choice being made by the younger generation in search of secure employment. These new challenges require newly crafted solutions and entrepreneurship education has a significant role to play in any renewed economy.