By Business & Finance 
Ireland INC, a private sector platform that aims to advance economic development between Ireland and its closest trading partners, hosted the sixth annual Ireland Day at the New York Stock Exchange today.
Over the last six years, Ireland INC has increased economic ties between Ireland and the US, and this year’s Ireland Day represented its most exclusive gathering to date.
The event featured a series of C-suite international business roundtable discussions and was attended by a unique group of global business and political leaders.
Dubbed by many as the ‘Irish Davos’, Ireland Day offers an unrivalled platform for economic engagement and thought leadership exchanges to develop clear strategies that build on the economic and cultural ties between Ireland and the US.
The summit hosted more than 250 executives from leading international firms, including Fortune 500 companies, venture capital firms, entrepreneurial start-ups, policy makers, as well as financial and sciences organisations from the US, Ireland and around the world.
Speakers at the aviation-themed event included Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, Stephen Kavanagh of Aer Lingus, Jim Compton of United, Fernando Suarez Gerard of Volaris, Steve Mason of CIT, Simon Glass of AWAS and Thomas F Cahill Jr of Morgan Stanley.
Furthermore, a technology panel featured Louise Phelan of PayPal, John Moore of 3D4Medical, Ben English of Dublin Tech Summit, Colm Lyon of Fire Financial Services, Emmanuel Dowdall of IDA, Dr Paul Duffy of Pfizer and Margaret Molloy of Siegel+Gale.
An insightful keynote speech was also delivered by Congressmen Richard E Neal.
Ian Hyland, president, Ireland INC was joined by Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines; Thomas Farley, CEO, New York Stock Exchange; Louise Phelan, PayPal; James Lockhart, Wilbur Ross & Co; Congressman Richard Neal; Rosaleen Blair, Alexander Mann Solutions; Jim Compton, United Airlines; Paul Connolly, Connolly Capital; Dr Paul Duffy, Pfizer; John Moore, 3D4Medical; Emer Gilvarry, Mason Hayes & Curran; Kieran McLoughlin, The American Ireland Fund; Alexis Lope-Bello, Comtrade; Ben English, Dublin Tech Summit; and Stephen Kavanagh, Aer Lingus, to ring the NYSE Opening Bell.
Ireland INC founder Ian Hyland commented: “With such strong economic ties between Ireland and the US, Ireland Day now represents a unique opportunity to celebrate and progress the invaluable partnership and maximise opportunities looking towards a very exciting future.”
Previous speakers at Ireland Day include An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Senator George Mitchell, Wilbur Ross, Denis O’Brien, Gary McGann, Congressman Pete King, former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, to name but a few.
To view more images from the event, click here.
