On 15 and 16 June, 2017 the eighth annual New York-New Belfast conference willtake place at Pier A Harbour House, NY. The conference will highlight the bridges ofprogress and prosperity being built between the citizens of the two great cities of NewYork and Belfast, looking optimistically to the future while celebrating our shared past. A Belfast delegation of community, cultural and business leaders will meet with theirNew York counterparts to discuss investment, embedding the peace, tourism, the arts
and how they can work together to the mutual benefit of their communities.
#NYNB17
JUNE 15 - 16, 2017
AIHS • 991 Fifth Avenue, New York • Pier A, Harbour House • 22 Battery Pl, New York
Headline Partner
#NYNB17
Andrea Haughian,Invest NI New York
Bill Cox, Partner Cox
Law Firm, LLC
Christine Quinn, CEO Win
CM Daniel-Dromm,New York City
Council
Erin Doyle,Producer, Saturday
Night Live
Francis Schott,Restaurateur
Stage Left
Geraldine Hughes,Actor, Writer,
Producer
Jim Clerkin,President & CEOMöet Hennessey,
USA
John J. Reilly,Partner Squire Patton
Boggs
John Connorton,Partner Hawkins
Delafield & Wood LLP
Joyce Sullivan,Founder & CEO
SocMediaFin Inc.
Larry Kirwan,Songwriter and
Playwright
Leo McGuire, LPMStrategies LLC.
Liam Lynch, IrishStudio, NY
Council Woman Elizabeth Crowley,
NY
Nick Malito,President IBO
Shaun Kelly, GlobalChief OperatingOfficer KPMGInternational
Steve Lenox, Co-President Irish
Network USA
Suzanne Aquino,Global Category
Head- ProfessionalServices, Chain IQ
Rep. Kate BrowningLong Island, NY
Maura KellyEmmy-winning
Producer, MarketerPartnerships
Board of Directors,IIBN-NewYork
Sean Gaffey,First Vice President
of The Gaffey Mellody Group at
Merrill Lynch
Lorraine Turner, NI Bureau New York
Marcus Robinson, Artist
Brian McCabe, Chairman, American
Irish Historical Society, NY
Representative Mike Cusick,
New York StateAssembly
Representative Mike Fitzpatrick, New York State
Assembly
Rob Walsh, Executive Director,
Help USA
Terry George,Director andScreenwriter
Erin Rice, Political Action
Committee International Union
of Operating Engineers, Local 825
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Where and When? Thursday 15 June - American Irish Historical Society , 991 Fifth Ave, NY
Friday 16 June - Pier A, Harbour House, 22 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10004
6:00pm Welcome Reception Moderated by Joyce Sullivan, Honorary Chair. Founder & CEO SocMediaFin
6:25pm Welcome to the American Irish Historical Society Brian McCabe, Chairman AIHS
6:30pm Welcome to the Big Apple Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, 74th District on Manhattan’s East Side.
6:35pm Greetings from Belfast: Dr. Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Founder, New York-New Belfast Conference
6:40pm Linking Labor: The James Connolly Interpretative Center, Falls Road, Belfast Harry Connolly, Executive Director, Fáilte Feirste Thiar John Samuelsen, President Transport Workers Union, President TWU Local 100, NYC Larry Kirwan, founder of Black 47, will sing his ballad ‘James Connolly’
6:55pm Síbín/ A Belfast Shebeen Compere Sophie Colgan, AIHS Featuring:
‘Divis Diaries’ Geraldine Hughes, Actor/Writer/Producer A selection of Pádraic Fiacc's poems from "Ruined Pages, New Selected Poems" edited by Gerald Dawe and Aodán Mac Póilin. Read by Mary O’Connor, niece of Pádraic Fiacc. ‘Belfast’, performed by Joby Fox, Top 30 artist with Energy Orchard, film-maker and Refugee Rescue activist IAW&A Salon, produced by John Kearns. Guests: Tim Dwyer, ‘John Montague’ and ‘Come On Home To County Down’ by Tommy Sands
Marianne McShane, ‘Tom's Pouch of Cure Stones’ by Paul McMahon and ‘The Given Note’ by Séamus Heaney
Excerpt from ‘Sons of Molly Maguire’ by John Kearns featuring: Maria Deasy, Guenevere Donohue, David Beck and Brendan Walsh.
John Brennan, Novelist
Alice Smyth, Harpist
8:00pm Close: New York-New Belfast: Join us for a nightcap at Wheeltapper Pub, Fitzpatricks Hotel, Grand Central, East 44th St (between Lexington Ave & 3rd)
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AMERICAN IRISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 991 FIFTH AVE, NY
8:00am Registration & Breakfast
8:15am A City on the Rise: Cranes Above BelfastMajor investments are underway in Belfast to underpin itsfuture success including a $300m new university campus in the city centre.Chair: Suzanne Aquino, Global Category Head,Professional Services Chain IQPanel: Prof Rafaella Folli, Head of School ofCommunication & Provost Ulster UniversityGiancarlo Di Vece, President, Unosquare, Portland, OregonLaura Leonard, International Relations Manager, Belfast City Council
8:45am Belfast and New York: Expanding the Common GroundCouncil Member Elizabeth Crowley, New York City Council.
8:50am Building Velocity. A Belfast entrepreneurs rapid rise in the Big Apple.Enda McShane, CEO, Velocity Worldwide
9:00am Official Opening : Scott Stringer, Comptroller New York City (Invited)Response: Cllr Matt Garrett, Belfast City CouncilNorman Houston, Director, NI Bureau, Washington D.C.
9:20am: One Step Beyond: Staying Ahead of the Tourism CurveTourism accounts for 9 per cent of GDP in the Republic ofIreland and 5 per cent in Northern Ireland but the potentialfor growth is enormous – especially in relation to businessevents and conference visits. What can we learn from thebest of Belfast and New York?Chair: Mary Ann Pierce, President MAP DigitalPanel: Harry Connolly, Executive Director, Fáilte Feirste ThiarAlison Metcalfe, Executive Vice President USA & Canada,Tourism Ireland USA, Gareth Maguire, Founder, BasketballHall of Fame Belfast Classic
9:45am Nurturing Talent in a Fast-Changing and Competitive World.Talent is the foundation stone of successful 21st Centuryeconomies but in a turbulent and competitive globalmarket, how can we attract and nurture the young buildersof our future prosperity?Chair: John J. Reilly, Partner Squire Patton BoggsPanel: John Lahey, President, Quinnipiac University,ConnecticutJayne Brady, Partner, Kernel Capital, BelfastJohn O’Donoghue, Director of Equities OTR Global andDirector Foundation Board, Queen’s University BelfastGerald Hanweck, CEO & Founder Hanweck
10:20am Transatlantic Relations in the Age of BrexitThe Brexit Effect is already being felt across Ireland buthow will the departure of the UK from the European Unionimpact on business relations between Ireland, north andsouth, and the US?Chair: Aoife Butler, Irish Network USA, New York CityPanel: Tony Dunne, US Country Manager Bank of IrelandMichael George, Managing Director, Fortress CapitalFormation LLC, New YorkJohnny Hanna, Partner, KPMG, IrelandBrian O’Dwyer, Senior Partner, O’Dwyer & Bernstien LLP
10:50am Michael Sorkin. Can A Big Apple Urbanist Put a New Heart into Belfast? Introduction by Ciarán Mackel of Ciarán MackelArchitects, BelfastMichael Sorkin, Principal, Michael Sorkin Studio,Distinguished Professor of Architecture & Director of theGraduate Programme in Urban Design at City College ofNew York, Author ‘Twenty Minutes in Manhattan’. Revered urbanist Michael Sorkin is working on acommission to replace aging government offices outsideBelfast with four state-of-the-art, multi-use buildings.
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Business and Investment ConferenceModerated by Honorary Chairs, Leo McGuire & Erin Rice
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11:10am Bringing It All Back Home.Maura Kelly, Founder Purple Mountain Media inconversation with Ben Kaufman, Head of MarketingUSA, Norwegian Airlines and Graham Keddie, CEOBelfast International Airport
11:30am Boardroom Dialogue SessionsCities of Immigrants. (Room: Grace) How New York’s diversity makes it the most vital city onearth - lessons for Belfast.Chaired by Sheila Lynott. Contributors: Sean O’Brien, Former Speechwriterfor VP Biden, Joby Fox, Refugee Rescue, ErinDoyle, Producer, Saturday Night Live, MarcusRobinson, Artist/Film Maker ‘Rebuilding theWorld Trade Centre’, Mac Premo, Artist &Stuffmaker, Mike Breen, Principal, Price, Meese,Shulman & D’Arminio, P.C, Daniel McCabe,Playwright ‘The Flood’, Pauline Turley, Vice Chair,Irish Arts Center
Connecting with Irish America in a Digital Age.From Ireland and want to invest, start up a business,trade or build a network in the Big Apple?Alternatively, already based in the US but want toexpand your services or products to Irish America?Either way, come speak to those who have been there,done that…and got the tee-shirt. (Room: New Yorker) Chaired by Nick Malito, President IBO Contributors: Bill McLaughlin, Founder IACBN, John Lee, Goodman Media International, Jennifer Bleiwise, Irish Network USA, Kate Cronin,IBO, Kevin Collins, Senior Account Executive,IrishCentral.com, Jim Frawley, Coach & Consultant,Frawley Coaching & Consulting
Unlocking our Tourism Treasures. Authenticity andCommunity in 21st Century Irish Hospitality at homeand abroad. (Room: Patrol) Chaired by Francis Schott, Stage Left Restaurant, NJContributors: Harry Connolly, Fáilte Feirste Thiar, John Harrington III, Principal, Sheffield Corp, Boston& Belfast Distillery investor, Jack McGarry, Co-Founder,Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog & BlackTail Bar, Rep. of Tourism Ireland, Peter McDermott, Irish Echo,John Harrington, Associate VP & Dean of Arts &Science Faculty, Fordham University, Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland, USA
12:30pm-2:pm US – Ireland Top 50 Companies LuncheonThe tenth annual celebration willtake place as part of the two day New York New Belfast conference. Hailing the prime movers and shakers inthe transatlantic business operations building bridgesbetween our two great nations, the awards laud thosebringing business in Ireland to global heights and indoing so embed the peace for future generations
Host: Ray O’Hanlon, Editor, The Irish EchoSetting the Table: Council Member Daniel Dromm,Chair Education Committee, New York City CouncilKeynote Address: Constance Hunter, ChiefEconomist, KPMGStandout Honoree Presentations to:UnoSquare, Portland, OrHanweck, NYCIE Tours, NYNorthern Property, BelfastNorwegian Airlines, NYVelocity, NYBank of Ireland, USAOrnua, NY
2:pm-5:30pm Visiting The Forgotten Borough:Staten Island Fact Finding MissionDelegates will take the Staten Island Ferry acrossand will visit Urby and Flagship Brewing Company.Hosted by Rep. Michael Cusick, Assemblyman NewYork Legislature.Tour guide, Rob Walsh, Executive Director HELP USA Fund.
6pm-8pm Farewell FinaleLiberty Room, Pier A, Harbor House,22 Battery Place.Presentation of the Irish Echo’s Irish American of theYear Award to Maureen Murphy, HOFSTRA Universityby Ray O’Hanlon, Editor, The Irish EchoToast & Thanks: Assemblymember Mike Fitzpatrick,Long Island, NYResponse from Belfast: Legislator Kate Browning,Suffolk County, NY
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