Continuing our “Connect 4 Lunch” series of events we are delighted to invite you to attend the next event Sponsored by OMAC Financial Solutions, on Tuesday 23rd March at 12.30pm in Bru Bar & Bistro.

This month’s theme is “The Louth and Drogheda Economic Forums”.

This address will be of interest to any business owner who is in business in the Louth or Meath regions.  The Louth Economic Forum is chaired by Padraic White, ex CEO of IDA  and will prove to be an essential lunch meeting for business owners, senior managers or anyone interested in the development of economic policies and plans for the area in which we live and work.

The Forum brings together a range of people from the Business Community, State Agencies, Education and Local Authorities to devise the next stages of Economic Development for Co. Louth.  Drogheda and District Chamber is represented on the Louth Economic Forum by Chamber President Patricia Rooney and Past President Graham O’Rourke. It has recently published its Foreign Direct Investment Strategy and Action Plan for County Louth and this will be followed by eight strategies/action plans on development areas such as Sustainable Energy, Broadband etc.

The Drogheda Economic Forum is a sub-division of the LEF and is Chaired by Patricia Rooney who is also joined on that forum by Chamber Council members Graham O’Rourke and Padraic Kierans as well as the many stakeholders from Local Authority, State Agency and Education for the area.

Speaker Profile

Padraic White is engaged in a wide range of commercial, community and public interest  activities.  He is chairman of a diverse range of SME  companies : Certification Europe Ltd  [Ireland’s premier private sector  certification body] ; Arigna Fuels Ltd [manufacturer  of smokeless fuel];  Moneenatieve Wind Energy Ltd [wind farms in Leitrim/Roscommon];  Gaoithe Saor Teoranta  [wind energy  consultancy] ; Collins Mc Nicholas Recruitment & HR Consultancy Group [five offices  nationally] ; Q102 FM radio [Dublin based & part of UTV radio group] ; Solar Print Ltd Advisory Board [Irish tech company developing dye sensitised solar cells]. 

He has recently been appointed Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Bank of Ireland  Seed &  Early Stage Equity Fund  of €25m managed by Kernel Capital.   His community interests include Chairman of the Enterprise Council of West Belfast & Greater Shankill and of the Employment Services Board for the same area as well as Chairman of Coolock Development Council, Dublin  and of the Louth Economic Forum . He is Chairman of St Lukes Hospital, Dublin [centre of radiotherapy excellence] and the independent Chairperson of Responsible Retailing of Alcohol in Ireland Ltd.  He was the first Chairman of the Railway Procurement Agency [2002-07] responsible for the  introduction of the LUAS service.

 
Padraic was Managing Director of the Industrial Development Authority of Ireland (IDA Ireland) in the decade to June 1990 when Ireland endured and then emerged from the last prolonged recession.  During his tenure , IDA negotiated the location  in Ireland  of  some of the to-days  leading multinationals (such as Microsoft, IBM Software and Intel),  decisively  moved to the promotion of International Services as a mainstream  IDA activity and embarked successfully on the promotion of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin’s docklands.

For further info contact enquiries@droghedachamber.com or call 041 9833544

This event is sponsored by OMAC Financial Solutions