New York New Belfast 2023

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.  

Andrea grew up in the USA but has spent the past 20 years in Belfast.  Andrea graduated from the University of Virginia with an honours degree in accounting.  She spent the next 19 years working at Arthur Andersen/Accenture in Washington DC, London and Dublin in various Finance roles.  

Andrea has spent the last decade as Finance Director for a number of NI based companies that were founded by her husband, including the #1 car sales platform in NI – www.usedcarsNI.com. 

In the last 3 years, her focus has been the renovation of several listed Georgian buildings in Belfast’s Queens Quarter.  These newly renovated buildings are now known as The Regency and bring a unique 5* hospitality offering to Belfast.

Andrea, along with husband Anthony and business partner Cecil have actively engaged with Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland to bring this new accommodation to the luxury and golf tourism markets.  They have also worked closely with Belfast City Council on the broader regeneration efforts in the area.  

Brian Ruane is the Chief Executive Officer of BNY Mellon’s Clearance & Collateral Management business and a member of BNY Mellon’s Executive Committee.

As CEO of Clearance & Collateral Management, Brian’s focus is to provide clients with digitally-enabled, resilient infrastructure to settle, safekeep, finance and manage their post-trade inventory and collateral obligations. In addition to those responsibilities, Brian is the CEO of BNY Mellon Government Securities Services Corp, and oversees the firm’s credit services, real estate and leasing portfolios.

Brian was a key voice on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Triparty Repo Infrastructure Reform Task Force, which drove systemic changes to ensure that the triparty repo market functions effectively and efficiently. He also served on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Working Committee on The Future of the US Government Securities Markets.

A frequent speaker on market structure, digital trends and triparty repo, Brian’s recent papers include The Future of Wholesale Funding Markets, The Pandemic Stress Test: US Government Securities Clearance and Repo, The Meteoric Rise in US Treasuries and Future Proofing of the US Treasury Market.

Prior to his current role, Brian led Global Client Management, Alternative Investment Services and Prime Services.  Brian has been a member of the Pershing LLC’s Executive Committee since 2015.

Brian is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of Hofstra University’s Zarb School of Business. Brian is also a member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and is FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 and 66 licensed.

A leader in strategy, corporate governance, business development and change / risk management who spent 18 years in Corporate banking as well as senior roles in industry. 

Clare is leading the establishment of an innovation district that will leverage digital, intellectual and real estate assets to grow the Northern Ireland economy.

Clare is passionate about achieving place-based inclusive economic growth aligned with the UN sustainable development goals. 

Joe joined Belfast Harbour in 1997, holding a number of roles including Commercial Manager and Port Manager as well as Commercial Director until his appointment as CEO in 2018.

Prior to joining the Port, Joe held positions with Undus Ltd and Cantrell and Cochrane Ltd. Joe is currently a board member of Simon Community, a Council member of the Ireland US Council, and Northern Ireland CBI Council member.

John Walsh was appointed as Chief Executive of Belfast City Council in March 2022, following a 31 year career in Council, most recently holding the position of Director of Legal and Civic Services and City Solicitor. 

John is committed to delivering on Council’s ambitious plans for the city and driving forward the city’s recovery journey post-Covid.

As a member of the Corporate Management Team over the last two local government terms, he is one of the architects of the Belfast Agenda and has played a key role in shaping policies aligned to it as well as the draft Local Development Plan.  

John believes in the power of collaboration to deliver.

Kevin is Chief Executive of Belfast based Lagan Specialist Contracting Group.

Lagan is a family owned Group of companies with business interests in the Civil Engineering, Construction, Property, Healthcare and Energy industries throughout Ireland, Great Britain, the US and Internationally.

Lagan established its U.S operations in 2009. ‘Lagan US’ is a Civil Engineering contractor based in Sterling, VA which specialises in Airfield construction and paving for a number of High profile public and private clients throughout the Eastern United States.

Prior to joining the family business, Kevin worked in Corporate Finance for BDO in Dublin

Kevin has 2:1 Honours degree in Business & Legal Studies (BBLS) from U.C.D in Dublin and is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and a Member of the Institute of Directors.

Maura Kelly is an advisor, marketing executive, and multiple Emmy award-winning producer, with a passion for social entrepreneurship. She helps creators and organizations develop and launch program initiatives that leverage strategy and creativity, foster partnerships and community engagement.

Active in Irish diaspora initiatives, Maura is a Board Director of the American Irish Historical Society, an advisor on the Global Economic Summit 24 (Business Post), and former Director of the LEAP Leadership Program funded by the DFA. 

Her career spans leadership positions in broadcast television at PBS/WNET Group where she built media franchises and helped raise millions for programs and EdTech initiatives – to working with top-tier media companies, like the Jim Henson Co., National Geographic, Tribeca Film Institute – and corporate partners (Toyota, Intel, Cisco) to government agencies (America’s Service Commissions, US Dept of ED, NSF). Her nonprofit work with the Helping Other People Foundation includes field trips to Ethiopia and Peru to evaluate grantee programs. Maura was born in Killarney, Kerry.

Michael J. Fitzpatrick was elected to the New York State Assembly, representing the 8th Assembly District, on November 5, 2002. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Mr. Fitzpatrick served as an elected member of the Smithtown Town Council for 15 years, from 1988 through 2002.

The 8th AD, within Suffolk County, is composed of the Town of Smithtown in its entirety and northern portions of the Town of Islip, notably the Islip portion of Hauppauge.

Assemblyman Fitzpatrick serves as the Ranking Minority Member on the Assembly Housing Committee and is a member of the Ways and Means, Higher Education and Labor Committees. Mr. Fitzpatrick is an active member of the New York State Chapter of the American-Irish Legislators Society and is currently serving as secretary.

Maintaining a presence in the private sector, whose vitality he strives to bolster as a legislator, Mr. Fitzpatrick is a Registered Associate with Morgan Stanley in the Port Jefferson branch office.

Active in the community, Assemblyman Fitzpatrick is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and past president of the board of trustees of the Cleary School for the Deaf in Nesconset, New York, where he remains an honorary trustee. He was a member of the Suffolk County Charter Revision Commission and the Human Services Committee of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Assemblyman Fitzpatrick is a 1975 graduate of Hauppauge High School and a 1979 graduate of St. Michael’s College in Vermont, from where he received his B.A. in Business Administration.

Mr. Fitzpatrick was born in Jamaica, Queens on April 15, 1957 and raised in Hauppauge, Long Island. He is married to the former Lorena Herrera of Chihuahua, Mexico, with whom he has raised two children, Corina and Michael. The couple resides in the hamlet of St. James in Smithtown.

Standing committee assignments for 2013-14: Housing, Ways and Means, Higher Education, and Labor.

Sophie Colgan is from County Down and has been living in New York since 2014. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Public Relations from Ulster University, Sophie made the move across the Atlantic. Soon after arriving, Sophie was selected as the New York Rose of Tralee. Over her 9 year career in NY she has worked with numerous reputable Irish American Cultural and Business organizations including the American Irish Historical Society and the Ireland-U.S. Council. Sophie now consults in Marketing & Events through her company SC Communications.
Sophie hosts her own podcast “Navigating New York” where she interviews guests that have immigrated to NYC about their personal and professional journey’s. Through these conversations she aims to make living in New York a little less overwhelming for new arrivals.

Sophie is deeply involved in the Irish American Community and has spear headed important community campaigns including a Petition to Stop the Sale of the AIHS; The Meithel – A community effort to source and deliver PPE to frontline healthcare workers during the worst of the Pandemic; Empowering Women in Sport, a campaign to recognize the Ladies Gaelic Football Association of NY on 30 years since formation. Last April Sophie was honored by the Irish American Building Society for her contribution to the Irish American Community with “The Irish Spirit” Award.

Thomas P. DiNapoli is the 54th Comptroller of the State of New York. A life-long Long Islander, Tom was raised in a middle-class, union household and saw the value of hard work and stretching every dollar in the example set by his parents.

In 1972, Tom won his first election and served as a trustee on the Mineola Board of Education, becoming the first 18-year-old in New York State to hold public office. He attended Hofstra University, earning a bachelor’s degree in history and graduated magna cum laude in 1976. He worked in the telecommunications industry for 10 years, and went to night classes and earned a master’s degree from The New School University’s Graduate School of Management and Urban Professions.

In 1986, he ran for the New York State Assembly and was elected to represent the 16th District in northwestern Nassau County for the next 20 years. Tom was elected State Comptroller on Feb. 7, 2007 by a bipartisan majority of the State Legislature. He was elected Comptroller by New York’s voters in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Tom is known for his integrity, independence and even-keeled leadership.

His record of accomplishments include identifying billions in waste, fraud and cost savings in government, uncovering corruption in State and local governments, leading to dozens of arrests and tens of millions in restitution, providing robust oversight of school district operations and education spending, successfully advocating for State law changes to increase oversight of special education contractors after widespread abuse was found, developing an early warning system to identify municipalities and school districts showing signs of fiscal stress, managing the third largest public pension fund in the nation through difficult losses during the Great Recession, reformed how it operates and received high praise for industry leading standards, investing nearly $2 billion in private equity and loan programs to benefit New York-based businesses and provide a return to the State pension fund, earning a reputation as one of the leading shareholder voices on many corporate concerns including environmental issues and corporate political spending, opening up government spending on his transparency website Open Book New York, leading the fight for prudent fiscal and procurement reforms to help New York change how it does business and put it on better fiscal footing, and streamlining claims process for individuals to recover lost money. Returned $424 million in unclaimed funds to owners in State Fiscal Year 2016-2017.

Andrew was appointed to his US Diplomatic Post in November 2019. He joined the Northern Ireland Civil Service in 1988 and the Senior Civil Service in 2000. His previous diplomatic post was as Head of the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels from 2015 until November 2019, where a major priority related to the particular challenge of Brexit for the region of Northern Ireland.

From 2010 he was responsible for a programme of major reform to the delivery of EU Common Agricultural Policy grants and subsidies to farmers in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland. As a result of this work, the exposure of the Department to financial correction by the European Commission was significantly reduced.

From 2005 until 2010, he was responsible for directing the development of population health policy in Northern Ireland, including the introduction of legislation to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces and the preparations for pandemic influenza.

From 2000 to 2004 he was Secretary to the Parades Commission with responsibility for providing senior advice to the Commission on the discharge of its duties and powers in relation to issues concerning human rights and the promotion of mediation and peacebuilding.

Claire is originally from Co. Tyrone, and attended St Patrick’s Girls’ Academy Dungannon and read English at Trinity College, Dublin.  She holds a Masters with Distinction in Marketing and Communication from Ulster University. She has over 20 years’ experience in marketing and business development, having worked in a number of senior positions for global brand leaders Coca-Cola, Heineken and the National Trust in both Ireland and London. But she continued to be actively involved in theatre and the arts, both as producer and performer.

On her return to Belfast she founded an independent theatre company specialising in musical theatre, with productions at Lyric Theatre, The MAC, Eastside and Open House Festival, including working with Glenn Patterson on an adaptation of ‘Home Again’ by Jimmy Ellis. Five years ago, merging her two passions, she moved into working full-time in the arts sector, currently as Head of Development and Marketing at the Lyric Theatre Belfast. Claire is also Vice-Chair of Theatre and Dance NI.

Claire is married to John and has three girls – Maggie (12), Elsie (10) and Flora (6).

The current Lord Mayor of Belfast is Councillor Ryan Murphy, who took up office on the 5^sth June 2023.

Councillor Murphy is a member of Sinn Fein and was originally co-opted onto Belfast City Council in 2018 and was elected as a representative for the Oldpark district at the 2019 Local Government Election.

At 28, Councillor Murphy is one of the Belfast’s youngest serving Lord Mayors and comes from the Ligoniel area of the city.  He has pledged to be a ‘Mayor for All’, working for all communities across the city to unlock Belfast’s potential. He also plans to focus on championing young people and showcasing the city’s diversity during his year in office.