Kildare Chamber welcomes new US ambassador Claire Cronin to Kilkea Castle
New ambassador's first speaking event to an Irish business organisation
County Kildare Chamber welcomed the new US Ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin, to Kilkea Castle on Tuesday last for what was her first speaking engagement to a business organisation in Ireland since taking up duties last February.
Several Kildare businesses with connections to the US, as well as political and cultural representatives met with the Ambassador.
County Kildare Chamber CEO, Allan Shine said, “The ambassador’s willingness to attend this event as her first speaking engagement to a business organisation in Ireland, and her choice of Kilkea for this, I believe, reflects the position Kildare holds as a county. With several US multinationals, as well as an ever-increasing number of indigenous companies doing business in the US, with a young well-educated, mobile, ambitious, and adaptable workforce, Kildare is leading the way for business in Ireland”.
Attending the lunch were the Mayor of Kildare, President of County Kildare Chamber, Junior Minister Martin Heydon, Cathal Berry TD, CEO of Kildare County Council, Chairman of INTO Kildare David Mongey, CEO of Chambers Ireland, CEO Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Chamber, CEO South Dublin Chamber, the IDA and business representatives from a number of sectors.
Ambassador Cronin expressed of her deep honour to serve as US ambassador to Ireland. She also spoke of her personal connections to Kildare and the connection she feels to Ireland and its people. Commenting on trade links between Ireland and the US, and County Kildare Chamber’s recent trade visit to Boston, the ambassador encouraged businesses here to continue to seek out new ties in the US and to use supports such as the Select USA Programme available, stating she would direct the US embassy team to continue actively engaging with and advising Irish companies on how to grow their business in the United States.
The US Ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin with County Kildare Chamber President Luke Hanahoe and Aidan O’Sullivan at Kilkea Castle. Picture: Tony Gavin
At the event the Ambassador was presented with a bowl made of rare bog yew from Glenveagh in Donegal, not far from her grandfather’s ancestral home. The bowl was hand crafted by a local business in Kildare.