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Belfast Corporate Lunch
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Belfast Harbour Commisioners
The invitation announced it as a Corporate Lunch in Belfast and the venue was the
spectacular and ornate home of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners in the bustling
downtown of Northern Ireland's capital city. The Chairman of the Commissioners,
Len O'Hagan, was the gracious host for the day.
The full-house event was chaired by the President of the Council's Chapter in Ireland,
Brian Goggin. The keynote address was delivered by Council Vice President Dennis
Swanson who noted that the organization had sought from the British Government a
"downward harmonization" of Northern Ireland's corporate tax rate to the low 12.5%
rate prevailing in the Republic of Ireland.
Mr. Swanson noted that the economic metamorphosis in the Republic of Ireland "has
not occurred overnight. It has been shaped by a half-century of consistent, thought-out,
strategic reform not just of the way Government does things - but of the way Government
views things and thinks about solving problems." He added that this transformation
"contains many lessons that policy-makers in Northern Ireland have pondered and,
I know, continue to study".
He also suggested that "the transatlantic bridge between Ireland and America has
played a vital role in shaping how Dublin turned to clearly American-style economic
policies."
The SDLP leader Mark Durkan also addressed the gathering as did Bruce Robinson,
the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Finance & Personnel in Northern Ireland.
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SDLP Leader Mark Durkan with Irish Channel America CEO Andy Ruane |
Aaro Junio with RTE's Tommy Gorman and Con Clarke |
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Colm Brady, Adele Cross of Delta Print & Packaging and Patrick Cross. |
Jim Nugent of Pragma Management Services with Albert Reynolds. |
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The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Jim Rodgers with Brian Goggin and Len O’Hagan. |
Council Board Member Mark Finlay, CEO of Barnabas Ventures with Michael Fitch of
Fitch Chartered Accountants |
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The United States Consul General in Northern Ireland Ms. Susan Elliott was on hand
to assist Brian Goggin in the presentation of the Council’s Student Work Experience
Scholarship Award Citation to Queens University Belfast’s Linda McAlinden from Newry,
County Down |
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