 This
Month's Issue:
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PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS
As we enter the summer, let me thank all of our members and friends for their loyal support over the first half of the year. Your Executive Committee continues to try to bring a broad range of programming to the monthly meetings. This is not an easy task, and we always solicit suggestions from the membership concerning the programming and the overall direction of the organization.
A major challenge before us to increase the general membership of the organization. Throughout the tri-state area, not for profit organizations are experiencing a difficult time in retaining and attracting members. We need your help in this uphill battle. We ask all of our active members to reach out to friends and relatives, and help build the membership A broader membership will only enhance our ability to attract better program speakers and further grow the organization.
The IBO Gala Ball will be in mid-October, and will honor Brother Rick Curry S. J. along with the NYPD Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band. We need volunteers to help with the Ball and encourage all members to support this great event
James Doran
President, IBO
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IBO MONTHLY MEETINGS
Wednesday, June 9th - 6.30pm
** NOTE NEW TIME
Guest Speaker : Colleen O’Connor, International Communications Coach and Consultant
This interactive session, “Presentations The Way Listeners Like It”, will provide members with the practical tools needed to become a professional caliber speaker.
Learn how to structure and create a presentation that audiences will understand, believe and remember. Find out what common mistakes business people make when delivering a power point presentation. How do you connect with an audience, control nervousness, create visuals, and engage your listeners?
What techniques are taught to world-class communicators when they are faced with tough questions from hostile audiences? These skills are not innate; they are learned and can only become natural through perfect practice. Take this opportunity to ask your questions and begin the process of becoming the next world-class communicator.
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IBO CALENDAR
OF EVENTS
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June
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June 9th Wednesday
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June IBO NY Meeting
The Shelburne Hotel, 303 Lexington Ave (@37th St.), New York, NY - Guest Speaker: Colleen O’Connor, International Communications Coach and Consultant.
This interactive session, “Presentations The Way Listeners Like It”, will provide members with the practical tools needed to become a professional caliber speaker.
Learn how to structure and create a presentation that audiences will understand, believe and remember. Find out what common mistakes business people make when delivering a power point presentation. How do you connect with an audience, control nervousness, create visuals, and engage your listeners?
What techniques are taught to world-class communicators when they are faced with tough questions from hostile audiences? These skills are not innate; they are learned and can only become natural through perfect practice. Take this opportunity to ask your questions and begin the process of becoming the next world-class communicator.
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6:30 PM
NOTE NEW START TIME
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June 15th Tuesday
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6.30 PM
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June 21st Monday
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IBO Golf Outing - Monday, June 21st
** SAVE THE DATE **
Come out and enjoy a great day of golf with IBO members & friends!
Venue: Twin Brooks Country Club, Watchung, NJ (201) 561-8858
(driving direction available at www.twinbrooks.com)
Breakfast: 10:30 AM
Registration & Lunch: 11:00 AM
Tee Off: 12:30 AM - Shotgun Start
*Awards Dinner to follow*
Cost: $185 per Golfer: w/breakfast, lunch, golf, cart, & dinner!
$75 per non-golfer
Supporting Charity: The Aisling Irish Center, Yonkers, NY
This event also honors several IBO members who have passed away.
Contacts:
Pat Sheridan (800) 828-6222 OR Jim Faulkner (973) 952-0300 (If it rains the day before or day of the outing please call Jim (908) 852-7356
to confirm the outing is not cancelled)
Jim & Pat will give you information on scheduling a foursome, being a
sponsor, or helping out as a volunteer!
We need volunteers to help on Monday, June 21st with registration, "Hole-in-One" contests, and raffles. You will meet lots of interesting people, and help out a good cause!
You may pay via check or credit card by calling Clare Bennett at the IBO Administration Office (570) 828-6907 or email clareb@ibo-ny.com
If paying by check please make the check payable to the Irish Business Organization of New York and mail to:
IBO
FDR Station
PO Box 6425
New York, NY 10150-1901
Come on out and enjoy a great day of golf with members of the IBO!
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TIME TBA
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June 22nd Tuesday
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NYC Breakfast Networking Meeting
Fitzpatrick's Grand Central Hotel, 44th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. Contribution for light breakfast is $10. Any questions, contact Tom Ward at TGWard718@aol.com or 718-565-0383.
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8:00 AM
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July
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July 15th Thursday
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IBO Summer Networking Event
Where: Hurley's 232 West 48 Street NY, NY
We will have the entire third floor inside bar & the outside garden!
Drink, food & fun for all! More details to follow. Save the Date!!!
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6:00 - 8:00 PM
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July 27th Tuesday
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NYC Breakfast Meeting
Fitzpatrick's Grand Central Hotel, 44th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. Contribution for light breakfast is $10. Any questions, contact Tom Ward at TGWard718@aol.com or 718-565-0383.
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8:00 AM
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September
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September 22nd Wednesday
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Rockland County Meeting
Madden’s Restaurant, Central Avenue, Pearl River, NY 10954. Guest speaker: John Lowry of Minuteman Press of Nanuet. For details please contact Julia Connolly (201) 446-7939, juliac@ibo-ny.com
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7:00 PM
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October
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October 15th Friday
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Annual Gala Ball, New York Hilton
**SAVE THE DATE **
This year the recipient of our Humanitarian Award will be Brother Rick Curry, Founder and Artistic Director of The National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped. The NTWH provides the disabled community with the communication skills necessary to pursue a life in professional theatre and enhance their opportunities in the workplace.
Our Celtic Spirit Award will be honoring The Pipes and Drums of the NYPD Emerald Society. For the past forty-three years their music has played in both joyous times, as the other evening, and also comforted the New York community, especially after September 11th.
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Time TBA
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IBO ROCKLAND MEETINGS
The May 26th Rockland Meeting was an open meeting to discuss ways of continuing our success and ideas as to the interests and recommendations the members have regarding future speakers. The membership present decided to cancel our monthly meetings for June, July, and August this year. We will resume on September 22nd with our guest speaker and member, John Lowry of Minuteman Press of Nanuet.
Through the guidance of member Carmel Reilly the IBO looks forward to further exposure at the annual Rockland Feis on Sunday, July 18th at Anthony Wayne Park.
The IBO wishes to express our gratitude to John and Breda Lyons of Maddens Restaurant, Central Avenue, Pearl River, NY for their continued generosity and support this past year. John and Breda have provided a wonderful venue for the IBO and have extended their hospitality and “great food” to the membership! Thank you to them and remember that their wonderful establishment offers all a delectable fare when visiting Rockland County.
We look forward to seeing you in September!!!
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IBO GOLF OUTING UPDATE
The IBO Golf Outing for June 21st is filling up quickly. Please let us know ASAP if you will be having a foursome or are a player or players who need to be set up to fill out a foursome.
There is still time to get your company's name out as a Sponsor, but we need a prompt answer because we must get the names to our "sign maker", Eugene Flanagan by no later than June 11th.
We have a great cause in supporting the Aisling Irish Center. We have a great day of golf, prizes, and good company all set up for you.
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ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
It is proposed that Clare Bennett, who has been working most compentently and dilligently with Clare Dermody, will now take over sole responsibility for the administrative services fir the IBO for the coming year. If anyone wishes to raise any questions or concerns about this proposed arrangement, will they please contact Jim Doran or Simon Pereira Shorey before noon June 15th. If no unresolved concerns appear, it is proposed to proceed to contract with Clare forthwith to maintain and improve the standard of our administrative service to members."
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NOLAN'S NOTIONS
An occasional Column from former IBO President!
“It’s been some month eh! As the Cork farmer would be wont to eject, “The Hay saved and Tipperary beat…how bad?’’. In this case I mean the Economy saved and Iraq beat, and as any optimist will tell you, “that’s fine unless you are fooling yourself”! The early rounds rarely amount to much in terms of memorable play”!
That’s how I began my column on May 11, 2003, reflecting as best I could on the unfolding war in Iraq, the state of the economy and the eerie feeling of not being told the truth by our political peers about any of it!
Well, time is a great healer they say, and also a ‘truth-revealer’. Recent revelations about the state of our war in Iraq have left us all somewhat numbed and confused. Conflicting feelings abound, feelings of joy, sorrow, pride, betrayal, loyalty to the cause and empathy with our men and women in the line of fire overseas, in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other countries, in need and otherwise. There is a vast difference between being fruitlessly effective and being expeditiously efficient. Seems we have gotten into rather a bit of a stew lately, especially in regards to our actively intrusive foreign policy.
Speaking of stews, my daughter Heather went to see ‘Super-Size Me’ the movie this weekend. (She also went to see ‘Troy’, but more about that later). Like many of her 9th grade classmates, she is concerned about her weight, her appearance and her health. Looking at her as a parent, I see a beautiful teenage girl with the world to live for. Viewing herself and life in general through her eyes, is a peek through a window on a vastly different landscape.
Her classmates include a cast of characters worthy of a Harry Potter episode. They include the ‘Populars’, ‘Nerds’, ‘Tweens’, ‘Punks’ and ‘Goths’, among others. They also include the jocks, the losers, the over-achievers, the shy, the gay, the odd and the funny. Mixed in there are all the other kids, including those who suffer from Depression, Anorexia and Bulimia.
Picking them up after the movie, ‘Super-size me’ I felt her and her buddies were very subdued. I got the distinct impression of having been betrayed from the girls. Who could blame them? The movie portrayed a normal healthy guy who went exclusively on a McDonald’s and McDonald’s Super-size diet for 30 days, after which he had gained 12 pounds, lost muscle mass, gotten fatty liver and a stressed heart. They learned more in 96 minutes, from a commercial movie about a bad diet, nutrition, exercise and impoverished lifestyles, than they had learned in their 15 short years, from their parents, their Schools and their friends!
Doubtless this movie was a little extreme, in content and ambition. The McDonalds of this world do serve fattening food, but no one is forced to go there daily, as this actor did. Or are they? Heather went to her school cafeteria the next day and discovered that the small simple salad she wanted for lunch costs $3.50, while a large serving of fried chicken was $2.00 and a large fries was $1.75. Guess what most kids in her school order. Soda costs $1.50 and so does a small bottle of water. Same question applies.
No wonder than that any child would doubt and question what their parents or teachers or peers, even politicians might say, or instruct them to do. Judge us not by what we say but by what we do and practice. (Funny aside, Heather’s Grand-dad was over last month, for her confirmation and he and she were talking about the larger sized people here in the US, and he agreed that that was the trend in Ireland also. He said, “Whats that thing that makes ‘em fat, y’know, that thing, the word, what is it, ..ah yes, Puberty, that’s what makes the girls fatter in Ireland. Heather corrected him ..nicely, adding its Obesity grand-dad, that’s what does it. )
It’s a little like our politicians. Both here and back in Ireland, politicians are involved in endless petty scandals, get-rich-quick shake-downs or quietly done under-the-counter, brown-bag deals, lobbied legislative initiatives and poorly thought out programs, leading to short term social gains and long term losses for our communities, our children, society, economy and our ecology!
I mentioned earlier on, that Heather had also gone to see the movie Troy. She and her buddies all agreed it was a brilliant movie, and well worth the $8.00, but not the PG-R rating. Being a boring-fart adult, I explained briefly to them about the history of Troy, the Greek and Roman oral histories, the Odyssey and the Iliad, Aesop’s fables and Aristotle’s wisdom.
I then mentioned the saying, ‘Beware of Greeks bearing Gifts’ and explained it in the context of the subterfuge at Troy, and then in the modern context of anti-viral smart-medicines.
Slowly though, it dawned on me that Helen of Troy, could be seen as a metaphor for Iraqi Oil, and we, the US, played the part of the Greeks, seeking her return and freedom, on our terms. Our experience in terms of the Iraq war, the faltering economy and the other ailments our society is suffering, was all interconnected. The Trojan horse has morphed into the modern Statue-toppling campaign, confused and abetted in the fog of war.
Providing the vanquished with new school buildings and more democratic government, does not necessarily win the hearts and minds of any nation, let alone an ancient civilization like those in the Middle East. They’ve been around the block a few times in the past 5,000 years. They’ve seen the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Romans, the Turks, the Brits and others come and go, each bearing gifts! They want to see some consistency, and honesty from us, and perhaps a little humility, before hauling our ‘Trojan Elephant’ into their community, and who can blame them!
It might serve this Administration well to remember that we all have an Achilles Heel. The torture scandal has certainly been a good example of how our justified and just attack on an unapologetic dictator, has been totally discredited by one bad policy at Abu Ghraib. Unfortunately it has proved to them, what monsters we really are, especially among the less-educated and easily swayed Muslim populaces!
Simplistic reasoning…perhaps! But listening to my child and her friends in the back of my car, I realized we are all guilty of fooling others, and even ourselves when it comes to taking a particular road in life, or supporting a specific politician or party line! November is looming large! At a national and local level politicians are seeking our support and our vote, so that they can continue their roles in ‘representing’ us at all political levels, apparently for our own good.
I think we ought to look at the innocent faces of our children and decide that now is as good a time as any, to make a change in how we allow ourselves to be fooled. Fooled into believing that outsourcing decisions about our and our children’s legacy, is a wise thing, or that our politicians really know what’s best for us.
How did that 70’s Rock song go? …hmmm…. “….we won’t be fooled again”!
Brian Nolan
Stellar research and effective and affordable marketing and sales solutions.
201 280 5022
bgnolan@aol.com
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SIMON SAYS
June 2004
As we approach the 60th anniversary of D-Day, it is perhaps apposite to reflect on the role of the Irish in war. With the internecine disputes at home it is occasionally overlooked that the Irish and those of Irish descent have a long and honorable history in battling against oppression, real and perceived, through enlistment in the armies of other nations, especially those of Britain and America, but also further afield.
Combat should always be a last resort, something that one finds thrust upon one and in which one engages with a degree of sadness that it has proved necessary, and is where one finds some of the most regrettable aspects of humanity. Nonetheless, it does give individuals an opportunity to test their mettle and learn more about themselves, help those other souls thrown into the melee, and give individuals and nations an opportunity to show that some things truly are worth fighting for, and, if they are, that heart and soul and sinew must be committed until the struggle is truly over.
The real Zorro was an Irishman (I know that strictly speaking this isn’t ‘war’, but I just couldn’t leave out this tidbit), William Lamport born in 1615 Co. Wexford, later known in Mexico as Guillen Lombardo; he fought and died for the oppressed Native Americans under Spanish tyranny. The Irish fought courageously but in vain at Culloden (in French service) against the English in 1746.
The Irish fought in the Revolutionary War, were at the Alamo, and fought, of course, in the Civil War, with the valor of the Fighting 69th from New York (one of several notably Irish formations) demonstrated on the fields of Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Appomatox. Their bravery was matched by those from our homeland who fought with equal faith and determination for the South.
Also in the 19th Century, the Argentine navy was founded by William Brown from Co. Mayo, and it was Bernardo O’Higgins, son of a lad from Co. Sligo, who led Chile to independence from Spain and was the first Chilean head of state.
Irishmen were at Little Bighorn, fought in the Crimean War, the Boer War, in India, quelling the Boxer rebellions in China, in World War One, World War Two. The Fighting 69th, functioning as the 165th Infantry, 42nd Division (Rainbow Division) throughout World War I (and now known as 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry (Mechanized), New York Army National Guard) helped turn back the last German offensive, counterattacked at the Ourq river, spearheaded one of Pershing’s pincer at St. Mihiel, and helped break the Hindenburg Line in the Argonne Forest.
Subsequently, in Korea, and in Vietnam, Irish-Americans and Irish-Australians fought once again with skill and grim determination.
Today there are many Irish-Americans out in Iraq and Afghanistan risking death and injury on behalf of those that they hold dear at home.
The neutrality of Eire since independence has been a policy rather than rigid principle, and the Irish Army has been incredibly active as peace-keepers and has become one of the best-trained and experienced peacekeeping forces in the world.
Since 1959, Irish army personnel have successfully participated in UN missions in Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bosnia Herzegovina, Cambodia, Congo, Croatia, Cyprus, East Timor, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Haiti, India, Iraq, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macedonia, Namibia, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, South Africa, West New Guinea and Yugoslavia.
Delegations from other armies all over the world go to the UN Training Centre in the Curragh to benefit from their wide experience in the best methods of peacekeeping.
President Bill Clinton once said "I would like to say because I can’t leave Ireland without acknowledging this, that there are few nations that have contributed more than Ireland, even in times which were difficult for this country, to the cause of peace and human rights around the world. … since peacekeeping began for the United Nations 40 years ago, 75 Irish soldiers have given their lives. … I think you should know that as nearly as I can determine, in the 40 years in which the world has been working together on peacekeeping, the only country in the world which has never taken a single, solitary day off from the cause of world peace in the United Nations peacekeeping operations in Ireland. And I thank you."
Reconciliation comes hard, as Irishmen know only too well, and it is perhaps this insight borne of hard experience that informs Irish peace-keeping.
Come it does though - when Alex Maskey of Sinn Fein was Lord Mayor of Belfast, he even laid a wreath at the city cenotaph - an extraordinary gesture when one considers Sinn Fein’s roots in the Easter Rising.
This week we especially mark D-Day and the liberation of Europe from Nazi tyranny and it may be noted that even at a time when the national policy was neutrality, and we were only a couple of decades after gaining our independence from British hegemony after hundreds of years, 100,000 Irishmen, equally from the North and South, enlisted to fight against Hitler; of these five thousand gave their lives and many more suffered injury.
All of those Irishmen who, across the centuries, have stood for freedom and have risked their all that others could live free, deserve our thanks, and I for one, will not forget.
Simon Pereira Shorey
Your comment on this column is greatly welcomed; please write to Simon at: simonps@ibo-ny.com
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IBO
MENTOR PROGRAM
If you have a career that you would like to develop further, run an enterprise that you would like guidance on, or simply would like a wise and unbiased head to turn to - the IBO Mentoring Program could be the answer. We have access to experienced individuals both within and outside the IBO who have offered to act as Mentors to our members.
The Program is free to IBO members and is totally confidential.
If you would like to learn more, email Simon Pereira Shorey at simonps@ibo-ny.com or call Simon on (212) 208 2526.
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NOTICEBOARD
- IBO Website Members Forum
Just a reminder that once you have logged into the Members Forum (left hand side of the IBO Home Page at www.ibo-ny.com) if you click on to ‘Members Forum’ you will have access to pages for:
- Job Opportunities
- Members seeking positions
- For Sale/For Rent
- Misc. Event Announcements
- IBO Suggestion Box
You can post your own items and read those posted by other members. This is a new area so initially there will be only a few items there. However, the more you use it, the more useful it will become! So please post about any non-IBO events that you wish to publicize, post job opportunities that you hear about, and indeed anything else pertinent. This is YOUR area. Please use it and read it every time you come to the website.
- Success Stories
One hears of many success stories of how membership of the IBO has led to new business, a new job, etc. We are seeking to collect these so that they can be used as ‘sales points’ to attract and retain members. If you have one (or many) of these stories to tell, please email us now at success@ibo-ny.com and let us know.
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About The IBO:
The Irish Business Organization of New York, Inc. is an non-profit,
non-denominational organization, which seeks to promote, foster, and
advance the business interests of Irish and Irish American business
people in the tri-state area.
The IBO News
is the official newsletter of the Irish Business Organization of New
York, Inc. It is published 10 times per year. This newsletter is distributed
to members of the IBO, guests from recent IBO meetings, and other individuals
from the NY-NJ-CT business community.
Newsletter Staff
Editor: Simon Pereira Shorey, GeneAfrica, Inc. (212) 208 2526
Technical Support: Jim McGuire, Eric Elias: Teledotcom Inc., 212 675 6565
Contact Information:
The Irish Business Organization of New York Inc.
FDR Station, PO Box 6425
New York, NY 10150-1901
Tel: 212 750 8118
Fax: 212 747 1820
email: info@ibo-ny.com
www.ibo-ny.com
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