Prior to coming to Ireland, I had many preconceived thoughts and opinions about Ireland and the people of Ireland. First off, I overestimated the importance of religion in the nation. I came here thinking that nearly everyone was Catholic and that they were relatively strict in their practice allowing it to significantly impact their way of life. However, we learned today that the role of religion had decreased tremendously in Irish society as the nation is becoming more secular. Second, I learned about the progressive history of Ireland. Partially because of my inaccurate belief of Ireland being a very religious nation, I expected that Ireland would be relatively conservative politically. However, we learned today that Ireland has deep ties with feminism as they had female military leaders long before other nations would even allow a woman to serve in the army. Additionally, they were the first country to legalize same sex marriage. Last, I was surprised by the role of Guiness in Ireland. Of course, I was aware that Irish people loved a glass of Guiness, but I had no idea the amount of investments that Guiness makes to better Irish society. Guiness invests heavily in the construction of sites throughout Dublin, like Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, that preserve the identity and history of Ireland.

I think that the importance of knowing the history and culture of where you’re doing business is important for multiple reasons. Knowing someone’s history or culture is often seen as a sign of respect and shows that you truly care about that person. This can lead to building strong relationships with those who you work with. As we have learned this week, building relationships is the only way to get business deals started and completed in some countries, Ireland included. If you are not aware of this, and you rush into discussing business, it is likely that your deal or partnership would collapse. Most importantly, you must know the opinions of your target audience to be able to provide a product or service that they would like. For example, if you are launching a product in Ireland, it would be a marketing disaster to include references to English military leaders who committed atrocities upon the Irish. On the other hand, it would benefit your business to include references to someone like Lord Edward. In all, understanding someone’s culture and history allows you to be more aware of how consumers and partners will react to your decisions and what they like or dislike.