WE'VE invested in Cooley Whiskey for 17 years, originally as a BES. Now we stand in the world's oldest licensed distillery and watch the first drops of whiskey produced in Kilbeggan since 1954. The expression 'getting locked' comes from the Locke family who ran the distillery after 1843, producing Churchill's favourite tipple. Corporate conservatism, a failed 1950s tribunal and monopolists tried to kill heritage, but we're bringing it back!

The vision came from Willie McCarter and John Teeling. But the whiskey's quality is testament to the skills of David Hynes. A chemical engineer by training, Hynes worked with artisan's flair to recreate a piece of industrial archaeology. The still was built using original 1840s plans.

A traditional technique, you can finetune taste by adjusting the angle, diameter and angle of the neck.

Single distilled, peated malt . . . just like the best 19th century poitin makers. Why destroy a whiskey's personality by triple distilling it? If you want vodka, buy vodka.

We worry about Motorola, but how many businesses have run in the same location for over 257 years?

Guinness dates from 1759, Jameson from 1780 and Bushmills from 1784.

Goffs Bloodstock Sales has been run only since 1866. Most industries are youngsters. How many will remain after 250 years?

Kilbeggan was unusual because it was owned by Catholics at a time when most businesses such as Jameson and Bushmills were Protestant. It fed 10 generations and gave pleasure to millions from Australia to Argentina.

My kids are intrigued by the water wheel and steam engines . . . lovingly restored. We explain that in the preindustrial world, things were handmade and small-scale. Transport was difficult, labour was cheap but total costs were high.

The project was conceived in Massachusetts in 1971 and launched in 1987 . . . another overnight success!

Entrepreneurs do it, but often not very quickly. You need stubbornness as well as vision.

Accountants focus on net assets . . . they miss the romance that drives marketing success. When C&C went public we saw indebtedness, threatened national brands and a venture capitalist with itchy feet. We missed the marketing flair that made Bulmers' cider.

Irish was the original whiskey.

Lack of innovation, monopoly and a bizarre industrial policy that restricted exports to protect excise receipts nearly destroyed the industry. But what killed Kilbeggan in 1954 was a tribunal into the accusation that Eamon de Valera accepted a gold watch in exchange for an export licence! How apt that the distillery is back in business as another generation of tribunals grinds to a wasteful conclusion.

22 March, Dublin One of Dublin's leading lawyers takes me to lunch, gently reminding me how little I've contributed to our alma mater. After Cambridge I went to America, which is more businesslike at keeping graduates involved. The old boys saddled me with resuscitating the Harvard Club in 1995. Once ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith agreed to be our patron it was easy. Most graduates were men, whose wives were bored by business school. So the solution was to host events with people or in places that interested spouses.

Ireland Fund chief Willie McCarter backed us with funds . . . and his time . . . for cross-border activities. Our greatest resource was retirees.

23 March, Forfas

The group on scenarios for Irish competitiveness to 2025 meets in Forfas. Scenario planning was introduced to us at Harvard.

Normally planners project forward the past. Scenario planning is a way of testing how robust your plans are.

If you've alternative views you can absorb new information objectively.

If you've only one view, you'll ignore information that doesn't match expectations.

'Irish competitiveness' is really the flip-side of the competitiveness of rivals and allies. India and China will stress us all. Reduced European tax rates and greater flexibility will remove our easy edge. Have we a strategy to feed off Chinese success?

24 March, Dalkey

What do you buy for someone who has everything? Thinking about the Irish competitiveness project, I found myself looking at a drawing in Dalkey's Tramyard Gallery. Artist Peter Lennon had caught a grey horse leaping. You could smell the equine sweat and feel 16 hands between your legs! Impressionist Degas painted horses abstractly but you wouldn't get away with that in Tipperary.