2009 Year in Review
Jan. We held our usual A.G.M. where the group’s leadership is chosen for 2009.
Feb. An evening with Ardal O’Hanlon. The Irish Arts Center kindly hosted an evening with leading Irish Comic and star of the hit TV Show Fr Ted, Ardal O’Hanlon.
March. We finally launched our Member Directory which is available to members and features a listing of all our current membership. it is proving to be an invaluable tool in membership networking.
In March also we hosted our annual St Patrick’s Party, another great success.
April. Pathways to Recovery, In conjunction with the American Ireland Fund we hosted a panel event at the Irish Consulate. This event drew the largest attendance to any event previously held at the Consulate.
May. in conjunction with Glucksman Ireland House we hosted former Irish Taoiseach, Dr Garret Fitzgerald who gave us his assessment of the economic crisis which hit Ireland mid 2008. Whilst painting a dire picture , his prognosis for recovery was very optimistic. This event was again very well attended.
June. Cooley Distillery Whiskey Tasting.
What an event, The Consul opened up his residence and hosted a Whiskey Tasting evening featuring the wares of not so well known but top class Irish Whiskey producer, Cooley Distillery.
July. We had our second annual Summer Party. This year we held this event at the Battery Gardens in Battery Park, with views of the lower Hudson and the Statue of Liberty. This event was very well attended with music by the Tara O’Grady Trio and great raffle prizes including our top prize of Aer Lingus Flight Vouchers.
Sept. Golf & Mary Robinson Event……
In September we held our first Golf Tournament, organized with through contacts of one of our members we secured a great rate at the Long Island National CLub and managed despite the weather to attract 30 golfers of all handicaps.
Our signature event for the year featured former UN High commisioner for Human Rights. former Irish President and recent receipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor, Mary Robinson. Interest in this event was such that we maxed out the capacity of our venue (Irish Consulate). With over 150 in attendance (mostly members), this was our most successful member event to date. Mary Robinson, a person who has a keen interest in the Irish overseas was taken aback by the level of interest in IN-NYC and in how a volunteer organization could generate such interest in what she had to say. Special Thanks to Irish Voice publisher Niall O’Dowd for compering the evening.
October saw us host an event with IIBN featuring one of the Ireland’s most successful businessmen Gerry Kennealy.
November - our annual Broadway event with a visit to Finian’s Rainbow.
December, our last event of the year was our now annual Christmas party, attended by many memebrs featuring some great music acts and also massive raffle prizes. Many thanks to Aer Lingus, Padded Wagon, Enterprise Ireland and Jameson as our primary sponsors for their support of our organization through the year.