Belfast International Homecoming

UK & Ireland Market Leaders in Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration

1979 – Joined Cross Refrigeration Dublin to complete Apprenticeship (started at A&N Shilliday, Armagh). Worked as a Service Engineer on completion of training
1983 – Appointed Installations Manager, Cross Refrigeration Dublin 
1985 – Present – Established Cross Refrigeration (N.I.) Ltd. in Armagh in partnership with Cross Group shareholders 1986 – Also held position as General Manager, Dublin office
1988 – Present – Director of Cross NI, responsible for delivery of UK/Ireland refrigeration projects and global banana and fruit ripening projects e.g. Sweden, USA, Colombia, Melbourne, with project values ranging from £300,000 – £5,000,000
2011 – Present – Shareholder and Group Managing Director of Cross Group, diversified services provider including refrigeration, air conditioning, banana and fruit ripening projects worldwide, temperature control hire. Turnover in excess of €100 million per annum,285 employees.

Ann Watt has been Director of the independent public policy think tank Pivotal since its launch in 2019. Pivotal aims to promote better policy making in Northern Ireland through research, analysis and engagement activities. Examples of Pivotal’s recent publications include Policy delivery in Northern Ireland, Achieving greater integration in education and housing and Review of the first year of the restored Northern Ireland Executive.  

Ann is a former senior civil servant, who worked for 15 years in London in the Treasury, Home Office and Cabinet Office. Having returned to Northern Ireland in 2012, Ann was Head of the Electoral Commission for five years, where she led on the regulation of political finances and supported the administration of elections.

Ben Chrnelich has a passion for capital markets technology and has spent his career focused on enabling trading organizations to utilize technology that drives efficiency and productivity.

Over the past two decades he has held leadership positions at Charles Schwab, Lehman Brothers, NYSE and IPC where he drove business strategy to adapt to the constantly evolving trading landscape. When not working, Ben enjoys coaching soccer for NJ ODP and his daughter’s teams.

Managing Director and Investment Committee member with a long history working in the venture capital, private equity and alternative assets industries. For over twenty years, managing fund-of-funds, co-investment, and direct investment programs for institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and foundations. Long and deep experience across international markets. Participating in all aspects of the firm’s business, including strategy and new product design, business development, investment sourcing, transaction execution, portfolio management, and investor relations. Represent the firm on numerous fund advisory boards and company board of directors. Early career focused on US industrial real estate development, ownership and management. Have lived in Beijing, Denmark, Hong Kong, London, Sydney, and now Washington, DC.

Catherine McKeever is a founding partner of McKeever Hotel Group and has been instrumental in its growth from a single restaurant to a respected collection of seven hotels.  Over the past 39 years, she has led on design, guest experience, and strategic development, helping shape the Group’s reputation for quality and authentic hospitality.

With a background in teaching, Catherine is passionate about learning, community, and raising industry standards—values that have made her a respected voice in Northern Ireland’s tourism sector. A committed supporter of local talent, she actively champions people development and cultural engagement across the business.

An accomplished artist, Catherine also serves as President of the Ulster Women Artists, using her creative leadership to support and inspire women in the arts throughout Northern Ireland.

Major Craig Costello has been a member of the New Jersey State Police for 24 years.  As Commanding Officer of the Port Security Section, he leads a strategic law enforcement effort responsible for safeguarding and regulating operations at the nation’s second-busiest seaport. Following a landmark unanimous Supreme Court decision, the newly created section assumed the regulatory and investigative responsibilities previously held by the Waterfront Commission of New York and New Jersey in July 2023.  Under his command, the Port Security Section successfully transitioned these vital responsibilities to the New Jersey State Police while enhancing security measures that protect one of the nation’s most crucial maritime commercial hubs.

Prior to serving as the Commanding Officer of the Port Security Section he had the responsibility of leading the Intelligence & Criminal Enterprise Section.  During that time, while overseeing 300 detectives, he coordinated the expansion of the state auto-theft task force which resulted in significant auto theft reductions, oversaw complex investigations led by the Opioid Enforcement Taskforce resulting in a statewide reduction of overdose deaths, and strategically deployed detectives to New Jersey’s cities resulting in a significant statewide reduction in gun violence.

Major Costello’s commitment to excellence and interagency cooperation earned recognition as the 2009 Trooper of the Year and the prestigious William French Smith Award in 2019, presented by the United States Attorney General. These accolades reflect his dedication to innovative law enforcement strategies and public safety.

Diane Morrisey is a Connecticut-based Food Blogger, Content Creator, NYT best-selling author, and former Whole Foods Market executive who oversaw all operations in CT and NYC stores.  She currently has an Instagram presence of 1.5 Million followers and admits that her path to social media began quite unexpectedly and by complete accident with a birthday cake Instagram post for one of her daughters. 

A self-taught cook inspired by her Italian grandmother, Diane brings a sense of ease and joy to the kitchen, helping home cooks build confidence with her nostalgic, crowd-pleasing recipes.  From her home in Trumbull, Ct she shares daily cooking tutorials with her community of followers, offering meals that are as practical as they are heartwarming. A former art teacher and caterer, Diane draws on her creative roots in everything that she does. 

Her debut NYT best-selling cookbook, You Got This! (Simon & Schuster, March, 2025), is a tribute to pantry-friendly, family-style cooking made simple. Diane and her husband John have been married for 32 years and are the proud parents of six children. 

Gary Gilchrist is Vice President of Software Architecture at Oracle for the Oracle Health Suite, where he and his team lead architecture and design for Oracle’s AI based Oracle Health EHR and its component systems in the Oracle Cloud. This involved completely reimagining the systems architecture for today’s electronic health records management around Oracle’s latest cloud native services for runtime, data management, UX and AI, while still working alongside existing critical systems of record at hospitals and clinics.

Gary left Belfast back in 1993 to start his career at Oracle working on Oracle Networking and Database Security. He went on to hold senior engineering roles at BlackBerry and Adobe where he led innovations in mobile and enterprise security, and rejoined Oracle again in 2020. He lives in San Francisco where he enjoys foggy hill walks and always discovering something new about the diverse history of his adopted city.

Keith Donald has been playing gigs since his first, on BBCNI radio in 1955. Since then he has played in most genres of music, on several instruments, with many great musicians. He is famed as the saxophonist with transformative early eighties trailblazing Irish trad rock outfit Moving Hearts. Keith has played on over 80 albums and been a member of bands that have had number one singles and albums in several countries. He has organised and played at scores of pro bono gigs, for the anti-apartheid movement, for gay rights, Women’s Aid, for Burma Action Ireland (which he chaired for seven years), and many more. He is still writing and performingNewBliss, his one-man-show (which we hope to bring ‘home’ to Belfast in 2026), at the age of 80. His memoir, Music & Mayhem is published by Lilliput Press. 

Originally from Belfast, Lisa has built a career rooted in connection, creativity, and community – values shaped early on through local volunteer work and roles supporting youth facing substance misuse challenges.

After relocating to Vancouver, Canada, she continued this people-focused path as a higher education counsellor, helping students overcome personal and academic hurdles.  She now brings that same dedication to her role as Business Development Manager at the Centre for Entertainment Arts, where she leads global partnerships across education and the entertainment industry.

Lisa also serves on the Board of Directors for the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce Vancouver as Governance Secretary, helping strengthen ties between Irish and Canadian communities through collaboration and shared opportunity.

Her passion lies in building meaningful connections that strengthen communities and open doors for growth and lasting impact.

Louise Kennedy grew up a few miles from Belfast. She is the author of the Women’s Prize shortlisted novel, Trespasses, and the acclaimed short story collection, The End of the World is a Cul de Sac, and is the only woman to have been shortlisted twice for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award (2019 and 2020). Before starting her writing career, she spent nearly thirty years working as a chef. She lives in Sligo.

Recently retired from Export Development Canada (EDC) in 2025, Mairead Lavery has proven to be a visionary leader, who has created winning business strategies to seize business opportunities, inspired teams and developed trust with a wide range of stakeholders including Boards, Government and International Organizations. 

Under her direction, Canada’s export credit agency (EDC) facilitated over $100 billion in trade and investment annually by more than 30,000 Canadian companies doing business in 200 markets around the world. She pursued ambitious objectives domestically with a focus on Medium sized Canadian companies, emerging sectors of Canadian capability and on International expansion while achieving strong financial results, customer growth and employee satisfaction.She was also the first woman to occupy EDC’s chief executive role in its 80-plus year history.  Prior to joining EDC, Mairead held executive roles at Bombardier, including Vice President of Finance and Vice President Strategy, Business Development & Structured Finance during a significant period of capital expenditure and restructuring.

Mairead is currently a member of the Conference Board of Canada Board and an independent Director for Payments Canada.  She is also a proud member of the Canadian Advisory Council for the Northern Ireland Department of the Economy which was established in September 2024.  She is an advisor on Project Arrow – an APMA initiative to showcase Canadian Automotive technology as well as participating in the advisory committee of the Toronto Global Forum.

She is a native of Northern Ireland, has a degree in Management and Accounting from Queen’s University Belfast, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. She has always been passionate about international business and since arriving in Canada in 2000  has been a passionate advocate for the opportunities and challenges facing Canadian companies in international trade. Mairead currently resides in Montreal and is married to Martin who is a corporate pilot.

Michael Flannery serves as both a General Partner at Grit Capital Partners, and is the Founder and Managing Partner of Redwood Partners and Redwood Technology Ventures. He focuses on technology investments in marketing technology, Fintech, and e-commerce. Some of his current investments include iFundWomen, Dubset, Alef, Measurence, and Jackpocket.

For over 20 years, Michael has advised global entrepreneurs, corporate executives and venture capitalists on strategic growth, talent strategy and executive search. Redwood Partners uses rich data and look alike success modeling to target and select talent for boards and executive operating roles. Since 2000, Redwood has operated an accelerator and has been successful making direct investments in seed-stage companies to compliment its deep experience in talent and venture development.

Michael is dedicated to the growth and acceleration of women entrepreneurs, and currently serves on the board of iFundWomen and the Female Entrepreneurs Fund. Michael is an alumnus and past Trustee of Cazenovia College. He splits time between New York City and Saratoga, NY where he resides with his wife and two children.

Michael Stamatis, president and CEO of Red Hook Terminals, began his career in the early 80s as a dock laborer handling break-bulk bananas for the global corporation Noboa. Working his way up through the company, he engaged in international trade, farming, commercial ocean transportation, chartering, terminal operations, break-bulk and container stevedoring, and vessel management. In 2000, he was promoted to senior vice president and asked to lead the company’s operations in the U.S. In 2011, he left Noboa for the top post at Red Hook Terminals. Mr. Stamatis has strengthened maritime activity at Red Hook Terminals and has instituted fruitful new partnerships with regional companies and agencies. In May 2018, Michael and Red Hook Terminals were named to develop and operate a new container and break-bulk terminal at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park.

Natalie is founder and Executive Director of the Celtic Junction Arts Center of Minnesota, an officer of Ireland Network Minnesota, and a member of National Irish Cultural Centers of North America (NICCoNA), representing her region nationally and internationally. She is an actor, speaker, and writer/ director of three annual productions with an international resume of theater work.  Natalie has presented with Global MN, the Irish Echo National Campfire, on Irish Stew Podcasts, and founded and hosts a Social Justice Seminar Series.  Natalie has been published in the Harp and Loon Anthology, contributes to MN’s quarterly arts review CJAR; is an Advisory Editor for University of St. Thomas’s New Hibernia Review; and contributes regularly to the Irish Echo and Irish Central.  She won Minnesota’s T.O.S.C.A. award for “Lighting the Way for Celtic Culture.” Under her leadership, Celtic Junction Arts Center won the award for Best Irish Cultural Center with Irish Central in 2018. She was honored in NYC as one of the Irish Echo’s “Arts & Culture Heroes” in 2020, as a “Rebuilder of Irish America” in 2021 and 2022, and was featured in their International Women’s Day salute in 2023. She toured the world for three and a half years with Riverdance, The Show where she met her Dubliner husband Cormac Ó Sé, before moving to Ireland, back to Minnesota, and raising three children.

Colonel Patrick J. Callahan was sworn in on October 31, 2017, as the 14th Colonel of the New Jersey State Police. He is in his 30^th year of service with the New Jersey State Police, serves as the State Director of the Office of Emergency Management, and serves as a member of the New Jersey Coronavirus Task Force established by Governor Murphy in February of 2020. He previously served as the Deputy Superintendent of Operations overseeing nearly 1,800 road troopers assigned to State Police stations throughout the State. Prior to this assignment, Colonel Callahan served as the Deputy Superintendent of Administration. Previous assignments also included him serving as the Commanding Officer of the Emergency Management Section, as well as the Recovery Bureau Chief in the wake of Super Storm Sandy. In this role, he was responsible for working with FEMA, all State Departments, county, and local government entities, as well as the Governor’s Office of Recovery and Rebuilding to administer and oversee the $1.5 billion in FEMA Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation funding awarded to the State. 

Colonel Callahan has also served as the Chief Financial Officer for the New Jersey State Police and has held various assignments in the Administration Section overseeing budget and fiscal responsibilities associated with the Division. He was also assigned to the Homeland Security Branch and assisted in the planning and distribution of the federal homeland security funding awarded to the State and its 21 counties in the wake of 9/11. Prior to this assignment, Colonel Callahan served as a station detective and general road duty Trooper.

Colonel Callahan earned a Master’s Degree in Administrative Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University and earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Villanova University. He is a graduate of the 243rd FBI National Academy Session where he was elected Session President. Colonel Callahan also served as the Chairman of the State Police Retirement System Pension Board of Trustees until his recent appointment to Colonel on November 1, 2017.

He has been married to his high school sweetheart Linda for 35 years and they have four children and four grandchildren.

A founding member and principal of Redgate, Ralph has over 30 years of real estate experience in the acquisition, master planning, entitlement, highest and best use analysis, and development of urban mixed-use properties, transportation-related distribution facilities, and industrial port-related buildings. Ralph has vast experience creating significant value for large properties by converting them into industrial, residential, retail, or mixed-use developments.

Before co-founding Redgate, from 2005 to 2009 Ralph was a partner at Cargo Ventures LLC, where he was primarily responsible for the investment strategy, site selection, master-planning, and entitlement processes for a 4 million square foot national industrial portfolio. Prior to Cargo Ventures, he managed a $100 million investment and development portfolio as a Senior Vice President for New England Development. From 1997 to 2002, Ralph was a Senior Vice President for Spaulding & Slye/Colliers. There, he was the Principal in Charge of the mixed-use, 5.3 million square foot North Point project as well as a member of the Executive Development Team, which oversaw all development, investment, and project management. Earlier in his career, Ralph was the Port Director for the Massachusetts Port Authority, responsible for all port-related functions, such as real estate acquisitions, leasing and marketing, capital investments, and container and cruise-ship terminal operations.

1^st Vice President, Grand Council of United Emeralds Societies Inc. and Former President/ PAPD Emerald Society (8 years)

Married to Rosemaria Ryan. Son Jack Ryan (Age 6). Daughter Emma Ryan (Age 3)

Born 1983 in Breezy Point, NY. Currently residing in Long Beach, NY

Xaverian H.S. Brooklyn, NY Manhattan College, Riverdale NY/ B.A. Corporate Communications, Felician University, Rutherford NJ/ M.A. Educational Leadership.