Image via Elections Ireland 
A reader emailed me last night with this question, and, to be honest, it has come up before. Rather than answering his email individually, I think I'll write something more substantial, and point others to this page rather than try to keep re-answering the question. I'm also working on putting something like this together for the new KBS website.
In life, Jim Kemmy was a noted Labour party activist.
I don't see a contradiction in calling a business school after a sometime socialist, because that's not all Kemmy was, and more on that below.
But even if all the man was was a socialist, Kemmy's brand of conservative, inclusive socialism would today be classified as creative capitalism or corporate social responsibility rather than firebrand proto-Marxism.
In the 21st Century, business schools should not be simply about profit maximisation, if they ever were. Business schools should be about teaching their students how to succeed in changing environments, yes, but we must also teach our students to temper that with a wider knowledge of the implications of their actions. Kemmy exemplified this.
In his life, Kemmy was a civic-minded person who worked on behalf of his constituents, and for this he is well known and loved (10,000 people turned up at his funeral in 1997).
But, his record as a worker, as a TD, a Mayor of Limerick, and as a private scholar shows he was more than just a die-hard Leftist.
Historian Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, who will deliver an oration at the unveiling of a portrait of Kemmy in a few weeks at the KBS, called Kemmy
a stone mason and socialist, trade unionist and political activist, writer and historian, parliamentarian and humanist.
Obviously we are not dealing with a boiler suit wearing leftie. Kemmy was an activist, an intellectual, and an inclusive socialist. All of these features of the man's life make naming our business school after him appropriate, interesting, and forward-looking.
For example, Kemmy held forward views on contraception and women’s rights years before they were fashionable, and showed the courage of his convictions when defending this unpopular stance. Leaders in the 21st century will often have to make difficult decisions, and in this he was exemplary.
Kemmy was a self-trained scholar, editing The Old Limerick Journal for many years. The KBS has a commitment to scholarship at the highest level.
Kemmy was a social activist, working for sustainable, progressive business policies, mirrored in the Social Partnerships that have enriched Ireland over the last 15 years, and helped create the conditions for the Celtic Tiger.
That's the long story. The short story might go something like: a rich man gave us money to call it that. This is also true, but like all short stories, it misses the detail, and in the details of Kemmy's life, there can be found instructive clues for a 21st Century business school.
Related Articles
Jim Kemmy at Elections Ireland
Irish Independent Archive for Kemmy
