Golden Bridges

Alison has responsibility for leading Tourism Ireland’s Marketing Strategy and Operations in the US, Canada & Australia. In June 2017, Alison also assumed responsibility for Tourism Ireland’s operations in Australia/New Zealand. She also serves as Chair of the European Travel Commission (ETC), USA Chapter since 2017. ETC is the non-profit organisation responsible for the promotion of Destination Europe as the worldwide number one tourist destination in third markets.

Andrea Haughian is Executive Vice President and Head of Americas at Invest NI, Northern Ireland’s Economic Development Agency.

A recognized expert in Foreign Direct Investment, international trade, offshore development and global business expansion, Andrea Haughian has helped C-Level executives accelerate business growth, maximize profitability and facilitate recruitment, training and R&D.

Andrea’s experience spans a diverse range of sectors including creative and digital technology, financial services, legal and professional services, life and health sciences, green economy, manufacturing and global start-ups.

Andrea is proud to showcase the talents of home-grown companies and innovators and to enable entrepreneurs to make connections with advocates and influencers in challenging markets across the Americas.

Andrea is an advocate for the advancement of women and the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and is a long-time supporter of Young Enterprise. 

Andrea received the Global Recognition Award at the Digital DNA Awards 2019. The Global Recognition Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant impact on Northern Ireland’s digital and technology sector on a global scale. In 2021 Andrea received the Tom Moran Business to Arts Leadership Award for her success in building successful partnerships between the business sector and arts communities. Andrea is a past Irish Echo Top 40 Under 40 Awards honouree, has been named as one of Irish America’s Most Influential Women by the Irish Voice and is a proud recipient of the Belfast International Homecoming Ambassador medal.

Andrea is based in New York, is a graduate of Queen’s University, Belfast, has undertaken post-graduate programs in both San Francisco and Chicago and is a graduate of Cornell University’s Executive Leadership Programme.  

Drew O’Brien is a trusted communications advisor with deep experience counseling global corporate clients. Through decades of service in the public and private sectors, he has developed numerous specialties, including public affairs, crisis communications, strategic counsel, executive visibility and thought leadership.

Cathal Conlon is in his eighteenth season with the New England Revolution and his seventh in his current position as Vice President of Marketing and Community Engagement. Conlon oversees and directs all aspects of the Revolution’s marketing and community initiatives, including advertising, grassroots campaigns, promotional activities, fans’ in-stadium experience, charitable fundraising and the team’s overall branding efforts. He also serves as the primary point of contact for the team’s supporters groups, working with the organizations to increase membership and enhance the groups’ involvement with the club. 

Conlon joined the Revolution in 2006 and has served as an Account Executive on the ticketing staff, Customer Service/Inside Sales Manager and the Director of Marketing before being promoted to his current position. 

Conlon began his career in the golf industry, with positions at Brae Burn Country Club in Newton, Mass., Ring of Kerry Golf & Country Club in Kenmare, Ireland and Warwick Country Club in Warwick, Rhode Island. 

Conlon volunteers his time supporting the Irish community in Boston. He served as the Chairman of Irish Network Boston for 7 years and has been a member of the group since 2010. He also serves as member of the advisory board for the Rian Immigrant Center and the Marketing Advisory Board for the Sawyer School at Suffolk University. 

A native of Ardee, Ireland, Conlon attended Liverpool John Moores University and earned a degree in sports science in 1999.  He and his wife, Noreen, and their children Oliver and Lilly live in Boston. 

Eugene O’Flaherty was appointed to the role of Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston in January 2014. In his role as Corporation Counsel, Eugene was the chief legal officer for former Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, President Biden’s newly confirmed Secretary of Labor. Eugene served as a senior cabinet advisor to the Mayor of Boston and was responsible for providing high-quality and effective legal advice and representation on all legal matters involving the Mayor, Boston City Council, all City Departments and Boards & Commissions. In that role he managed an office of 60 Attorneys, paralegals and administrative staff. As a cabinet member, Eugene was also part of a mayoral administration whose work has resulted in the largest growth of development in Boston’s recent history.

Prior to his appointment, Eugene served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for seventeen years and has been practicing law since 1994. Elected to the Massachusetts Legislature in 1996, O’Flaherty served on the Education Committee and as Vice-Chairman of the Banks and Banking Committee before being appointed to serve as the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee in 2002.

During his twelve-year tenure at the helm of the Judiciary Committee, Eugene was responsible for the drafting, review and implementation of the largest number of legislative proposals before the Massachusetts Legislature. He was the chief architect of the overhaul of impaired driving statutes, court reorganization legislation, stronger sex offender statutes, tougher penalties for violent habitual offenders, CORI reform and human trafficking.  Eugene also repeatedly defeated attempts to reinstate the death penalty in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

In addition to his legislative duties, Eugene served as a member of the House Leadership Team for more than a decade and under three successive Speakers of the House and played a pivotal role in advising, advocating for and polling the 160-member House on a wide variety of legislative issues involving economic development, education, health care, gaming, and revenue.

Eugene oversaw the legislation and led the discussions required for the implementation of the Goodridge decision, which legalized gay marriage, making Massachusetts the first state in the United States of America to do so and served as the House of Representative’s lead negotiator on a number of complex and high-profile conference committee negotiations with the Senate and Executive Branch.

Eugene spearheaded the sister city agreement between Boston and Belfast, Northern Ireland which results in annual exchanges and visits by elected officials and members of the business community and organized the Friendship Four Hockey Tournament that annually brings four American university teams to compete in Belfast for the BelPot Trophy during the Thanksgiving holiday. The tournament has been acknowledged as crucial in continuing initiatives to support the peace process there.

Known affectionately in Massachusetts political circles simply as “Gene-O”, Eugene was honored for excellence in his efforts by the Massachusetts Bar Association, Boston Bar Association, Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, Massachusetts Legal Assistance, Children’s Trust Fund, Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Animal Rescue League to name a few.

Eugene is the youngest of five boys and the only member of his immediate family born in the United States. Eugene lives in Boston with his wife Patricia and their large extended families. Eugene is most proud of being a loving Uncle to his many nieces and nephews.

John is an attorney and the Boston chair of the Boston Belfast Sister City Initiative. Since 2014 he has helped to develop relationships between the many cultural, educational, community, and business sectors of both cities. A native of Chelsea, MA, John is a graduate of The College of the Holy Cross and Suffolk University Law School. 

Kathryn Ellis is the Director for the UMass Innovation Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst .

UMass Amherst is the flagship of the five- campus system in Massachusetts.  With over 30,000 students in over 190 academic programs the University is a R1 University and ranked number 3 in Massachusetts for Research.

The Innovation Institute that Kathryn manages is the UMASS Industrial partnership office which harnesses the relationship between companies seeking innovation challenges and matching with our expert researchers to solve them. Part of her role is managing and promoting innovation space on campus for spin out companies both from the university and start-ups in the New England area and beyond.

Prior to joining UMASs Kathryn was Economic Development Director for the city of Newton where she managed large scaled commercial developments in the city and assisted over 4000 businesses. Prior to that Kathryn along with a business partner formed an economic development consultancy practice called EDAgency. Contracts included promoting the cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol and Basel, Switzerland.

Kathryn is original from Belfast Northern Ireland and has lived in Boston for 30 years. Her career span has been involved in economic development and for 20 years of her career she was Vice President US East Coast for the SouthWest of England Regional Development Agency and was responsible for attracting large Northern American companies into the Region.  Kathryn holds a Bachelor Degree in Management and a MBA from Curry College, MA, she is currently completing her PhD in Educational Leadership at the University of Massachusetts. 

Kathryn is on the Board of the Boston Irish Business Association and past Board member of the British American Business Association.  She has helped organize multiple trade missions to Northern Ireland and Belfast is always a key city included in these programs.   Most recently in November 2022 Belfast welcomed two UMass Hockey teams (UMass Amherst and UMass Lowell)  as part of the Friendship Four Championships this visit also aligned with a visit by the Governor, Charlie Baker.  Kathryn also recently joined as US board member for the Friends of Young Enterprise Northern Ireland and is a keen advocate for helping career paths for the youth in Northern Ireland, she has welcomed multiple visits by Young Enterprise members at the UMass Boston Campus.    Kathryn’s proudest claim to fame is her Grandfather started Lavery’s in Shaftsbury Square and is now an iconic bar in the city.

Kevin has had a long and distinguished career in both the public and private sectors, serving with distinction in both appointed and elected offices at the local and state level. As the youngest person in the nation to be elected Mayor at that time, Kevin brought an entrepreneurial spirit to his role as the Mayor of the City of Lawrence, Massachusetts, emphasizing the importance of economic development and small business in the creation of good paying jobs. 

As a small business owner and the son of a celebrated local woman-owned business owner, Kevin understands that businesses flourish when employees are engaged and informed about how to create value and use all of their skills and talents to contribute to the organizational mission. This background informs Kevin’s work at Babson, where in his role as Vice President, Strategic Corporate Relations and Engagement and Off-Campus Operations, Kevin leads a team that introduces Babson’s unique approach to the academic discipline of Entrepreneurial Leadership to local and international government, corporate, health care, finance, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Kevin works closely with Babson faculty to bring certificate programs to lifelong learners everywhere has proven to be a game changer for all of the organizations benefitting from these programs, who see immediate and measurable improvements in employee morale, retention and organizational understanding.

Kevin has also served in high ranking corporate financial services roles, having been an Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase Bank and as Senior Vice President at Banco Santander, creating strategic business opportunities and significantly increasing market share and revenues.  Prior to his work in financial services, Kevin served in three Massachusetts gubernatorial administrations and held two state cabinet seats, Secretary of Administration and Finance and Secretary of Transportation and Construction.  Kevin served as the Mayor of Lawrence, MA from 1986 to 1993.

Kevin and his family are renowned for their philanthropy throughout the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts, and Kevin has served on several boards and has received many awards for his work in community organizations, including Lawrence General Hospital, the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, and the Boy Scouts of America. A proud father of two and new grandfather, Kevin resides in Merrimac, Massachusetts. 

Boston Globe Bestselling author, Kyle Darcy was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, soon after graduating from Ulster University. Darcy’s novels, UNDER CURRENT CONDITIONS and UNDER THE IMPRESSION, draw strongly on his unique Trans-Atlantic perspective and colorful real-life experiences. 

Martina is the Founder of CHC Home Care, a boutique style home care agency that allowed people to remain safely in their homes while receiving nursing care. She grew the business organically to a multimillion dollar company until it was acquired by a publicly traded corporation in October 2020. Martina serves as Board Chairperson of the Irish Cultural Centre of Greater Boston and is the first female to hold this position.She’s an active member of the New England Council, Irish Network Boston, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and Co-founder of Mná Mheiriceá.

In 2019 she was an honoree at the Irish Echo Small Business Impact Awards honoring Irish American entrepreneurs and business leaders receiving the Care Ambassador Award. Martinahas a deep fondness for her beloved Co. Clare where she was born and raised. She is and avid outdoors person and has completed three Boston Marathons. She is currently an EMBA Candidate at Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School. Martina resides in the Back Bay with her husband Craig. 

Her motto to live by is, “Goals are achieved through hard work, high standards and surrounding yourself with good people.”

Mary Sugrue is the Chief Executive Officer of the Partnership. Ms. Sugrue has been with the Partnership for 33 years, serving in many capacities before assuming the role of CEO in 2016. In her tenure, the Partnership has raised over $56 million, benefiting more than 640 schools, universities, and community development initiatives. Originally from Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry, she graduated from National University of Ireland Carysfort College Dublin with a degree in education and spent three years teaching primary school in Ireland. As an Irish teacher by training, she possesses a valued perspective for furthering the Partnership’s mission through impactful grants to schools, educational programs, and community development initiatives. Active in Irish America across the US, she has been honored by the Boston Irish Reporter, the Belfast Ambassador, and Irish Echo. Mary also engages with community initiatives in her adopted hometown of Boston. She supports Rian, the Irish Cultural Centre, the Boston College Global Leadership Institute, the Irish Pastoral Center, Irish Network Boston, and Boston Irish for Pride. She is an active member of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the New England Council, a founding member of the Boston Friends of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and provides direction and support to the Durant Fellowship for Refugee Medicine at MGH Global Health as well as several local schools.

Maureen Bennett represents life sciences and health care clients conducting global clinical trials and research collaborations. For more than 20 years, Maureen has advised life sciences companies, CROs (contract research organizations), academic medical centers, health care systems, patient focused organizations, and digital health companies on the contractual, regulatory, and ethical issues associated with clinical research.

Maureen regularly advises clients on emerging issues in clinical research, such as strategies to meet clinical trial diversity and health equity objectives, the design and implementation of compliant decentralized clinical trials and telemedicine networks, the structuring of patient recruitment programs, and the development of complex outsourcing arrangements between sponsors, CROs, and site management organizations. She has assisted several clients regarding the conduct of global trials for therapeutics and vaccines to address COVID-19.

Maureen also negotiates clinical trial agreements, reviews informed consents, and assists with interactions with and inspections by regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

She also represents clients in the assessment and mitigation of regulatory risks and the negotiation of liability allocation arrangements in M&A, licensing, and other commercial transactions.

Maureen formerly served as co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Health Care Section. She was honorary co-chair for the 8th Annual Boston-Northwest Ireland Golden Bridges Conference 2022 and is a regular speaker at health industry conferences.

Maureen is a member of the national Board of Directors for Lambda Legal and is co-chair of the Jones Day LGBTQ+ affinity group. She is a member of the Boston College Women’s Softball Advisory Board.

Paul Jennings is the former Head of Product Advisory Services and Foreign Exchange (FX) at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). In his role, he managed a team of traders and advisors responsible for providing FX, currency risk management, and interest rate market solutions for SVB’s innovation economy clients

Hailing from Warrenpoint, Co. Down, Paul moved to Boston in 1992. Paul has a long career in the US banking industryand was selected for the Irish America Wall Street 50 award several times. Paul is also a board member of the Boston Irish Business Association, and American Friends Of Ulster University.

Patrick Bench is the Founder of Benchmark Strategies. In this role, he provides public affairs and lobbying counsel to clients. Patrick specializes in economic development and procurement advisory services.

Patrick founded Benchmark Strategies in 2014 after years of leadership in executive government offices, specializing in economic development and international affairs.

Prior to launching Benchmark Strategies, Patrick served for five years as a Vice President of Public Affairs at Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications. Preceding Rasky Baerlein, Patrick served for five years in economic development roles in Governor Mitt Romney’s and Governor Deval Patrick’s Administrations, primarily as the Director of Business Development for the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment (MOITI).

Patrick is a Bachelor of Political Science graduate from Providence College, with a Master of Public Administration from Suffolk University. He lives with his wife and daughters in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sara Stanton is the Founder and Managing Director of Cara Group Travel, a leading custom group travel company based in Quincy, Massachusetts. For over 13 years, she has guided the company’s growth and reputation for creating transformative international journeys that inspire connection, education, and cultural exchange.

With more than 25 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry, Sara is recognized as a trailblazer in international sports travel. She played a pivotal role in developing the Friendship Four Ice Hockey Tournament in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and has overseen travel logistics for major collegiate basketball events in Dublin and London. Through these initiatives, she has helped bring U.S. collegiate teams abroad, fostering both athletic competition and meaningful cross-cultural engagement.

Sara’s expertise also extends to professional learning travel programs. She has curated global journeys for judges and lawyers from the Chicago Bar Association, blending legal education with immersive cultural experiences and has led legislative learning missions for the New York State Legislature, advancing international dialogue and collaboration.

At the heart of Cara Group Travel is the Irish word “Cara,” meaning “friend.” This spirit of friendship and connection defines Sara’s approach to travel and business alike. Guided by her commitment to connection, trust, and personalized service, she continues to shape Cara Group Travel’s mission to deliver exceptional group travel experiences across Ireland, Europe, and beyond

Sean Moynihan is a 1992 cum laude graduate of Providence College and a 2001 cum laude graduate of Suffolk University Law School’s evening division program. He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in January 2002. He spent over a decade working in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, including positions as Counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee and Counsel to the House Majority Leader.

As Counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee, Sean analyzed legislative and budgetary proposals to make proper recommendations regarding state constitutional law, annual appropriation bills, inner workings of state agencies, and deciphering legal implications of funding proposals and amendments.  Public policy matters that Sean tackled on a daily basis included transportation, energy and the environment, life sciences/biotech, education, and the administration of justice in the Commonwealth.

In 2007 Sean founded The Moynihan Group, LLC, a Boston based boutique law firm specializing in government relations and public policy, corporate law, and transatlantic ventures.

Core services of the firm include legislative counsel, regulatory advocacy, procurement, business development, and business incorporation and compliance. The firm provides a strategic management style plan that is uniquely tailored to clients’ objectives. The firm has a history of representing clients in heavily regulated industries in Massachusetts.

The firm’s clients have included financial brokers, trade associations, universities, private security and public works related companies, non-profits, international service providers, international governmental bodies, international venture capital firms focused on high tech/innovation, and micro-mobility companies.

Sean is past President of Irish Network Boston (IN Boston) and is currently Vice President of Irish Network USA (IN USA). He also serves on the Irish International Immigrant Center’s (IIIC) Internship Advisory Panel working to identify employers for J-1 visa holders.

In the past, he served as “Connector” with the former Boston World Partnerships (BWP), a non-profit organization created by former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, and as a Trustee of the Irish Pastoral Centre in Boston.

Sean lives in Hingham, MA with his wife Lynn and their two children Maeve and Declan.