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When Don Keough called it a day as president of the Coca-Cola Company, as he says himself, he retired for 12 hours. The next day he started as chairman of New York investment bank Allen&Company.p. Mr Keough, who turned 77 this month, retains more jobs in his so-called retirement than many people might aspire to achieve in a lifetime. He remains a key adviser to the Coca-Cola company and, apart from chairing Allen&Company, several companies have also turned to him for advice 鈥� including the Washington Post, McDonald鈥檚 and the Yankee Nets.p. He spends around one-third of his time in New York and when he is not travelling, he spends the rest at his home in Atlanta. He plans to keep on going. 鈥淚鈥檓 blessed with a lot of energy. Being in the centre of life is where the fun is. My idea of hell would be to go down to some watering hole somewhere, buy two pairs of pink pants and wait for the cocktail hour.鈥漰. But Don Keough鈥檚 great labour of love, especially since he retired from his executive role at Coke in 1993, has been the development of an Irish studies programme at the University of Notre Dame. This programme has expanded to such an extent that it has 12 full-time lecturers and 600 students per year, taking 25 different courses in aspects of Irish studies 鈥� from history, literature, film and theatre to the Irish language.p. 鈥淲e have four classes in Irish language and it is hard to get in,鈥� he says.p. Keough鈥檚 association with Notre Dame began when his daughter (one of six children) went to study there. Keough, like many other Irish-Americans, was very aware of his own Irish heritage and roots. His family had emigrated from Wexford, arrived in Boston and taken up 鈥榟omesteading鈥� in Iowa, where land could be got for free if a family was willing to work it.p. Keough saw Notre Dame as a great place for his children to study and he duly became a lifetime trustee. But he was surprised to discover that despite the University鈥檚 strong Irish links, it didn鈥檛 have much by way of courses in Irish history and literature. 鈥淭here were no Irish programmes. Yet it seemed so logical.鈥漰. Keough endowed a chair of Irish studies. Writer and academic Seamus Deane came over to do the job. But quite quickly, the project expanded into the Keough Institute for Irish 91视频. It expanded to Ireland with a special programme in Newman House, which enables dozens of students to come to Dublin every year for at least a semester and take courses in Irish studies at UCD and TCD.p. The Institute now offers PhDs in Irish studies and, as Don Keough points out, it isn鈥檛 just Irish-Americans who are taking the courses. The first PhD went to a woman who had grown up on a Native American Reservation.p. Last year, Glen Dimplex chairman Martin Naughton and Keough bought the former residence of Daniel O鈥機onnell on Merrion Square for the Institute. 鈥淚f you think about O鈥機onnell and what the programme is doing, he would have been delighted to know what the house is being used for now,鈥� Keough said.p. The former president of Coca-Cola has ploughed an estimated $20m of his own money into the development of Irish studies. Why? 鈥淚f you have been lucky enough to have made some money, you have to decide where you want to put it.鈥漰. 鈥淲hen I think of the uniqueness of the Irish story, the extraordinary contributions Irish people have made in all fields, the great lessons of Irish history and the great writers, they all make a wonderful academic canvas,鈥� he said.p. Keough鈥檚 own story makes an interesting canvas itself. He grew up in Iowa and went to study at Creighton University, a Jesuit college in Omaha, Nebraska. During this time, he met long-time friend Warren Buffett. This friendship led to all kinds of business connections for the two. Buffett became a major investor in Coca-Cola. Keough later sat on the board of Buffett鈥檚 Berkshire Hathaway.p. After graduating from university, he won a scholarship to work in television in the late 1940s and presented his own show. He later worked for a coffee company which was taken over by Coca-Cola. One of his first ventures, after becoming president of Coca-Cola, was to buy Columbia Pictures in 1982 for $750m. The company was later sold for over $3bn.p. A typical few days for the 77-year old sees him begin the day with some yoga, put in the hours at Allen&Company, attend a Yankee Nets board meeting, fly home to Atlanta from New York and return a day later. Each year he organises an international 鈥渢hink-in鈥� at SunValley, Wyoming, which is attended by some of the world鈥檚 leading executives.p. Meanwhile, Allen&Company is a backer of Merrion Capital in Dublin, the broking and corporate finance firm set up after a group of executives split from NCB in 1999.p. Keough鈥檚 early connections with Ireland weren鈥檛 just about his family. As Coke increased its presence in Ireland, particularly with the construction of a plant in Drogheda, Keough increased his visits. Over the years, he has been asked for economic advice from three different Taoisigh, from Charles Haughey to Bertie Ahern.p. While he acknowledges Ireland鈥檚 dependence on the economic fortunes of the US economy, Keough is anything but downbeat about the current downturn.p. 鈥淲hen you look at Europe over the last 20 years, there鈥檚 not a country that can touch Ireland. There hasn鈥檛 been a new job created in (continental) Europe in 15 years. In Ireland, the Government opened its arms to foreign investment. What Ireland has to offer is spectacular.鈥漰. 鈥淭he problem with success is that everyone expects it to go on at the same rate. Ireland may be off peak but it is still doing extremely well,鈥� he says.p. As for the American economy, Keough does see room for optimism. 鈥淔rom what I gather, the recession is over but nobody knows it. You have had a lot of jobs go in this country, and some of them are not going to return. But there are signs of consumer confidence and market confidence returning,鈥� he says.p. Keough points to the fact that in the 100 years from 1900 to 2000, for 54 years the stock market was flat or down.p. 鈥淚 believe we are coming out of recession but I don鈥檛 think it will be a fast change. You will begin to see more consumer confidence coming back.鈥�

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