Ireland Gateway to Europe (IGTE)

Jim Rooney, CEO Boston Chamber of Commerce and Conor Healy, CEO Cork Chamber.

After a two-year break, a delegation of over 70 Irish business leaders and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern headed to Chicago and Boston, with an optimistic message about Ireland’s robust trade partnership with the US. Cork Chamber, represented by CEO Conor Healy, joined the IGTE trade mission in April for the first time as part of our new two-year membership. The group were accompanied by The Business Post and the team from The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk, who broadcast from the US events throughout the week.

The Irish delegation had a packed schedule during their visit to the two cities. Many of the events were organised in partnership with the Boston College Ireland Business Council (BCIBC), an initiative founded by the Global Leadership Institute (GLI) at Boston College and IGTE, were designed to enhance transatlantic trade between Boston and Ireland.

These events included the Transatlantic Tech Breakfast Drift, with over 100 guests attending at the offices of Drift in Boston. This event was a forum for US and Irish tech leaders to share insights around the opportunities and challenges on both sides of the Atlantic. At the Global Leadership Special Session in the Kellogg School of Management, Dean Francesca Cornelli interviewed former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on his role in the Irish peace process and other peace processes around the globe since then. The Global Leadership Lunch, hosted by BCIBC and the Boston College Chief Executives Club, focused on themes including the role tech is playing in the current status of work and how it will help with talent retention.

A Cork representation in Irish delegations to the US is vital to the success of Cork Chamber’s international relations strategy and that of the Connecting Cork and the We Are Cork brands. Reinvigorating relations between Cork and the United States will enhance the economic development of the region by encouraging continued inward investment of multinational firms, the attraction of talent and the building of networks to ease the expansion of Cork firms expanding into the US.