Several Irish Network USA members have had their passports stamped in the past month while participating in various trade missions and conferences in Galway, Dublin and Belfast.
Irish Network Seattle President, Noreen McCormack, was part of the Seattle delegation that accompanied the Seattle Police Pipers and Drums band to Ireland. Noreen was honored to meet with dignitaries including Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Ireland’s President Michael Higgins and Galway’s Mayor Donal Lyons to promote and strengthen the relationship between our Irish Networks and Ireland.
Padraic Walsh, a founding member of Irish Network Buffalo helped organize a group for visits to Belfast and Buffalo to help continue building relationships between Western NY and Ireland. Other members of the party included Assemblyman Mickey Kearns and representatives from the State University of New York, the New York Film Commission and the Buffalo Fenians GAA Club. The delegation was hosted in the offices of Dublin Law Firm William Fry where they discussed several topics including increasing travel between Western New York and Ireland, increasing academic exchange programs between SUNY and UCD, and fostering stronger business links between both multinational companies and startups between the Buffalo region and Ireland with representatives from the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, UCD and the Western Development Commission.
And finally, Steve Lenox, President, Irish Network USA, and Sean Moynihan, President, Irish Network Boston, were invited guests and speakers at the annual One City Conference in Belfast. Steve served as moderator for the conference’s first plenary session while Sean helped lead several discussions throughout the 2-day event on fostering stronger relationships between the City of Belfast and members of the Northern Ireland Diaspora across America and beyond. Steve and Sean were honored to be among a delegation from the US that also included Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, San Francisco base entrepreneur Seamus McAteer and former INUSA Board Member Tom Burke. During their time in Belfast Steve and Sean also extended invitations on behalf of Irish Network USA to Belfast Lord Mayor Nichola Mallon and Irish Minister of the Diaspora Jimmy Deenihan to visit with any of our chapters across the US.
Irish Network USA hopes that these trips set the stage for future INUSA hosted and supported trade missions and conferences in Ireland in the near future.