# Free to Attend Economic Conferences



## Positivity1 (17 Mar 2009)

Thought some of you here might be interested in the following. 
Some very high profile people gathered and is completely free to attend if you register I gather. Jim Power, a former secretary general in a government department and a world's leading crisis communications counsellor. All you have to do is register I gather. 




Think-Tank on Future of Mid-West & Cork Regions

- Free to Attend Conference with Ireland’s Leading Economic on Sporting Minds

Businesses and community groups in Limerick and Cork are being asked to participate in a major think-tank conference aimed at identifying the best way forward for the city and region out of the current economic crisis. 

The conferences have been arranged by Senator Alan Kelly and will be held at the Thomond Park Conference Centre on Wednesday, March 25th next, starting at 8.30 a.m and at Rochestown Park Hotel at 2.30pm. 

Senator Kelly has managed to secure of some of Ireland’s leading business and sporting brains to speak about stimulating jobs growth and business in the Mid-West.

The key-note speaker will be economist Jim Power, who returns to the Treaty City one year after he published a major economic report – ‘Limerick A City of Opportunity?’ – detailing how Limerick is well placed to buck the national trend in terms of prosperity if planned public and private investment in the city were to go ahead.

“It will be great to get Jim back to Limerick to see what his views are now. He was certainly very optimistic last year but much has happened since,” said Senator Kelly. 

“The credit crunch has obviously played a big part as banks are tightening their lending to developers, which is holding up major projects in the city, and the other big jewel in the crown for Limerick this time last year was Regeneration and there is clearly now a need to fast-track funding to stimulate job creation here in light of the disproportionate lay-offs this city and region has suffered so far this year.

“Having carried out significant research into Limerick for last year’s report, Jim is well placed to give his insight and we are fortunate in that regard to have one of the nation’s best known economists coming here at a time of such need.”

Others joining the think-tank will be former Secretary General in the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Brendan Tuohy, who is one of the most respected civil servants ever to have served in Government. World leading crisis communications counselor and son of this region Declan Kelly will lend an international perspective, while 

Rugby legend Anthony Foley will also give his insight in relation to how best respond to difficult/crisis scenarios such as this and how Limerick’s sporting tradition can be capitalised on to help drive us out of the downturn. 

Professor Eamon O’Shea, head of economics at NUI Galway and Dennis Ryan, the chairman of the Dell Workers Representative Group, will also join the panel. 

The Cork conference will also have Brendan Tuohy, Declan Kelly, Paul Keary and will be joined by John Conroy, Chief Executive Officer with Merrion Capital and renowned as one of Ireland's sharpest economic analysts. 

Senator Kelly stressed that the conference is focused on solutions only and will not be used to criticise current Government policy. “We all know the Mid-West and Cork regions are hurting worse than any other but we have had many challenges before and come out of them. 

The way to do that is to get the best and brightest thinkers together in a forum such as this to find the way forward. We have got some of those thinkers on our panel and we are looking to the members of the public to come along and contribute as well. 

“Whether you are multi-millionaire or someone who has just lost their job, everybody has something to contribute. I want to stress also that this is not an exercise in Government bashing or making political points – these conferences will be uniquely solutions-focused and what we need right now more than anything are solutions,” said Kelly. 

Anyone interested in attending is asked to register at www.newideas.ie .
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Biographical Details of Speakers

Brendan Tuohy
Brendan Tuohy was Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources now the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, from 2000 until he retired, after completing his seven year term, in September 2007.
Brendan was previously Secretary General of the Department of Public Enterprise (from 2000-2002) and that Department also had responsibility for aviation, public transport, road haulage and the meteorological services. Prior to that, Brendan was Assistant Secretary in that Department and its predecessor, the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications having had specific responsibility for Mining and Exploration, Natural Resources and Corporate Services in addition to corporate governance of the State companies and public sector reform (from 1992 - 1997).
He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, Member of the Irish Academy of Engineering and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Business Information Systems, UCC.

John Conroy: Chief Executive Officer of Merrion-Capital Group, a Dublin-based stock broking and corporate finance company owned by management and staff. John is recognised as one of Ireland’s leading economic analysts for over a decade. A former Head of Equities of NCB group, he and six colleagues left NCB to set up Merrion Capital and quickly established the company as one of the leading and most entrepreneurial players in its field in Ireland. 

Eamon Coughlan: Three time Olympian, World Championship winning athlete. 

One of the most respected figures in Irish sport he was a world-record holder for the indoor mile and is the only ever Irish male to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championship. He represented Ireland at three Olympic Games and over the course of his career ran 84 sub 4 minute miles. He earned the nickname ‘Chairman of the Boards’ for his success as an athlete. 

Declan Kelly: Executive Vice President and Chief Integration Officer of FTI, the world’s leading event driven consulting company, FTI Consulting. 

FTI is known globally as “The Company Behind The Headlines” and Declan is recognised as one of the world’s leading crisis communications counselors and business advisors. He works globally across multiple industries advising Governments and large-scale corporations in a variety of reputational and business issues. He was also a key advisor on Irish American affairs to now US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, during last year’s US Presidential Election.

Jim Power: Chief Economist with Friends First financial services group and the former Chief Economist with Bank of Ireland. 

Jim is recognized as one of Ireland’s leading economic thinkers for the past decade. A frequent commentator on the Irish and global economy, he is a board member of Agriaware, the food awareness body and a member of the Waterford Institute of Technology Foundation board. 

Anthony Foley: Former Shannon, Munster and Ireland rugby legend. 
One of the most respected figures in Irish sport he captained Munster to their first Heineken Cup success in 2006 and made 202 appearances for the province. He is currently a member of the management team for Munster rugby. He also represented Ireland with great distinction in multiple campaigns lining out in the green jersey for more than a decade.

Professor Eamon O’Shea: Head of the Economics Department at National University of Ireland Galway. 

Dr. O’Shea’s research interests include the economics of ageing and the welfare state. He is currently Chair of the National Economic and Social Forum project team on care of the elderly and has worked as a consultant with the European Commission on welfare policy. He is also a member of the Tipperary senior hurling management team.

Dennis Ryan: Chairperson of the Dell Workers Representative Group. 
An employee at Dell’s manufacturing and research plant in Limerick City. A native of Limerick, he has worked across many business sectors including the clothing trade, the construction industry. He will be representing the views of the 1900 staff recently made redundant at the Raheen Plant. 

Paul Keary
Senior Managing Director and Director of Business Integration with NYSE-listed FTI Consulting, the world's largest event driven consultancy, highly regarded for corporate finance and restructuring, economic consulting, E-discovery services, litigation consulting, communications and transaction advisory.

Prior to joining FTI, he held a senior management position for an international PR agency and advised a wide number of blue chip technology companies on communications strategy surrounding IPOs and M&A activity. Previously Paul was also head of communications for Xerox Europe Ltd, during a time of significant restructuring and realignment for the company.

Paul is currently a director of the US Foundation Board for National University of Ireland, Galway, a founding board director of IN-NYC the highly successful business network for professionals in New York and was recently honored in New York as a recipient of Irish Echo's 'Top 40 Under 40'.


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