November 2015 NUI Galway Hosts Regional Session of Global Irish Economic Forum

A view of Galway through the lens of its world-leading Med Tech industry, campaigns for cultural acknowledgement and urban innovation

NUI Galway is delighted to announce it will host the Galway element of the Global Irish Economic Forum. NUI Galway will host a Regional Session, including a public forum, entitled ‘Gaillimh Nua’ on Thursday, 19 November ahead of the Dublin Castle events this weekend.

The Global Irish Economic Forum is organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The programme includes the regional event to be held in Galway, which will bring together members of the Global Irish Network, SMEs in the West region, Galway City and County Councils and the academic community.

The Global Irish Economic Forum Galway Regional morning session (closed) will this year showcase MedTech activities in research and translational science in NUI Galway and the broader region with members of the Global Irish Network in order to share expertise and explore collaborative opportunities.

The session will facilitate Global Irish Network Members along with IDA and Enterprise Ireland client companies in a two-way conversation to identify current challenges within the MedTech sector, and explore potential solutions to these through the lens of the cross-sectoral expertise of the Global Irish Network members. This will be led by Prof Lokesh Joshi, NUI Galway’s Vice President for Research and medtech entrepreneur, John O’Dea, Crospon.

Members of the Network who will participate in the public forum, moderated by NUI Galway graduate Eimear Ní Chonaola, Journalist and TG4/RTÉ broadcaster, include Gerard J. Barry, Director, Debarra Innovations Ltd. Founder, Fintrax Group; Gearóid Faherty, Eurand N.V.; Kevin Conboy, President Irish Chamber of Atlanta; Catherine Toolan, Managing Director, Aramark International; Brian Barry, Chairman, Tirna Partners; and William McLaughlin, Founder, Irish American Business Chamber and Network Inc. and others.

The ‘Gaillimh Nua’ Roundtable discussion will this year engage with local initiatives in the areas of Gastronomy, Culture, Innovation, Smart City, Marine and The Emigration Experience. Leading local representatives in each of these emerging and growing areas will address the Forum.

Public Forum Speakers:

Gastronomy: Cathal O’Donoghue, Teagasc and Alan Farrell, Galway County Council, on Galway’s bid for European Region of Gastronomy 2018.

Culture: Gary McMahon, Galway City Council, and Eithne Verling, Galway Museum, on the Galway city and county culture strategy.

Innovation: John Breslin, Galway City Innovation District, on the development of Galway’s Portershed initiative, a centralised hub for start-up development and networking.

Smart City: Liam Hanrahan, Galway City Council and Niall Ó Brolcháin, Insight Institute, NUI Galway on the Open and Agile Smart city initiative.

Marine: Dr Peter Heffernan, Chief Executive of Galway’s Marine Institute, an international leader in marine research and innovation.

The Emigration Experience: Laura Colleran and Clare Doyle (Ireland Reaching Out/Ireland XO) who work to build relationships between Ireland’s diaspora and their home counties.

Places are limited and those wishing to attend the public forum are required to register in advance at www.conference.ie The forum will be in the Aula Maxima (Lower), Quadrangle Building, NUI Galway. The event begins at 2.00pm. The event will be streamed live online at www.nuigalway.ie /forum

ENDS