(This post has since been updated to include a link to photography taken at the event).

View event photography here.   With Ireland and Canada competing in rugby terms last weekend, it’s time now to celebrate the deep ties between the two nations at the iNua Ireland Park Gala on Thursday 24th September in Muckross Park Hotel, Killarney.

Emcee

We are delighted to announce Grainne Seoige, Journalist/News Anchor/Entertainment Television Presenter, as the event’s emcee to keep Thursday night on schedule and our guests engaged. Gráinne began her career on October 31, 1996 with the launch of Teilifís na Gaeilge and moved to TV3 for it’s launch in 1998, and worked there for five years where she anchored its daily news bulletins. In May 2004, Gráinne was hired as launch anchor for Sky News Ireland. She has won the VIP Style Award and the Hewlett Packard Award for services to the Irish language.  

Key Speaker

Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food, the Marine and Defence has a personal connection to Canada and has a short word ahead of his keynote speech on Thursday.

“I am delighted to be involved in this great celebration of the links between Ireland and Canada. My family has close personal ties with Canada; I’ve travelled there a number of times and witnessed firsthand the strength of the cultural and economic links between our two countries. This event is a fantastic means of highlighting the strong trade and socio-economic ties between Ireland and Canada and I wish the Ireland Park Foundation and iNua every success in their ambition to foster those links even further through their joint partnership.”  

Dinner Prizes

A piece from Kerry artist John Hurley will be auctioned on the night. John Hurley is a graduate of The National College of Art & Design and is based full-time in County Kerry where the rugged coastline of the region informs his landscape painting. He is a ‘highly collectable artist’, according to the Sunday Independant art critic. Raffle prizes include;

• A two night stay in either Radisson BLU Hotel Limerick or Cork.
• Mindfulness & Spa retreat for two people at Muckross Park Hotel on 6th & 7th November (two nights B&B with 2 spa treatments & tickets to a Mindfulness Retreat by Hugh O’Donovan.)
• A two night stay at Muckross Park Hotel for two people on 13th &14th November and two tickets to Michelin star wining Derry Clarke’s Christmas cookery demonstration & dinner.

 

Muckross Park Hotel

The event’s venue was nominated recently for two Gold Medal Awards including ‘Best 5 Star Hotel’ in Ireland and ‘Best Wild Atlantic Way Restaurant’ for its Yew Tree Restaurant. A luxurious hotel located in Killarney’s National Park.    

Entertainment

A drinks reception will welcome guests to the hotel’s main lobby & Skellig Suite. Guests will be serenaded by music from Marina Cassidy, Ireland’s foremost harpist/vocalist. Once the meal commences, the Valentia Suite floor will be cleared to make way for the Bentley Boys, voted RSVP Band of the Year 2013, 2014 and 2015.   Contact Philip Corrigan (p.corrigan@inuapartnership.ie) for all Dinner enquiries.