Out & About

Following up on last week's Out and About column I'm happy to report that we've had a lot of positive remarks on what we said about airfares to Ireland; that if they all conformed to a standard rate of $500 for a return trip, we would probably not have enough planes to carry all the passengers who would want to travel to Ireland.

As I said last week, if a passenger pays $500 for a return flight it will leave him or her with lots of money to spend in Ireland during their stay on things like hotels, restaurants, clothes, car rental, sightseeing, gifts and a lot more.

This would help the improve the economy in Ireland and probably reduce unemployment by the thousands, helping so many industries that it could put Ireland back in the black... It's only a suggestion though...

Now that I've got that off my chest, here's some good news: I went to Kennedy's on 57th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) which is back open again. Its new owners are none other than Paul Hurley and Michael Glynn together with one of the top executive chefs, Paul Loftus.

Now what a trio you have here reestablishing this great restaurant with the cream of the crop in both management and service; now where would you get Dublin and Galway together? Oh you never know, be goraa... I hope I said that right?

In all seriousness the place is looking like its old self with Neil in the front bar and yes he's back in the back bar: the one and only Maurice O'Connell - one of New York's most famous bartenders for over 30 years and well known to all celebrities and politicians.

A great friend of the Irish Examiner newspaper Maurice Landers sent me a nice piece of information that should interest our readers: Last Wednesday the Irish Technology Leadership Group launched a new East Coast Chapter at a reception hosted in the Consul General's residence in New York.

The launch of this new chapter represents a major milestone in ITLG's commitment to promoting the technology connection between Ireland and Silicon Valley and reflects the significant momentum they have built since their inception in 2007.

Over the past four years, ITLG has provided mentorship, support and investment for many Irish startup companies, grown its business Diaspora network to over 2,000 members globally and facilitated inward investment by U.S. multinational companies in Ireland to mutually benefit the economies of both Ireland and the United States.

Key highlights of our accomplishments include:

• Hosting 4 major networking events in Silicon Valley to recognize and promote top technology companies and leaders and showcase their achievements.
• Leading 3 Silicon Valley delegation trade and investment missions to Ireland.
• Engaging with over 250 start-up companies, providing mentorship, customer access and funding support.
• Forming partnerships with Irish universities and institutions to support the commercialization of research.
• Establishing the "Irish Innovation Center" in Silicon Valley, supporting Irish companies and universities.
• Creating the first ever Silicon Valley-Ireland mentorship program in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank, Citibank and Cisco.

This new East Coast Chapter will give them the presence necessary in New York, as well as in other technology hubs in the United States including Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago and Atlanta, to create the world's largest, most vibrant global network of Irish and Irish-American business executives.

At the launch Dr. Craig Barrett the Group's Chairman and John Hartnett from Limerick who is the Founder and President of the Group said that, "Together we can work to grow and support more of today's young technology companies that may become the leaders of tomorrow and create more exciting opportunities for all members and friends of the Irish Technology Leadership Group."