Ireland - the green island, is a great place to visit. Check what there is to see and know about Ireland.  https://www.nordicvisitor.com/blog/cool-facts-ireland-known-for/

Irish Business Club's Annual General Meeting took place on Thursday the 7th of March 2024.

The meeting elected nine members of Board;  Kevin Deegan, John Horkan, Heikki Mairinoja, Matti Räty, Norma Salmivuori, Tarja Uitti and Erkki Yrjölä from previous board and two new members Kirsi Swanljung von Wehrt and Ari Lahti. Tarja Uitti was elected as a Chairman and Erkki Yrjölä as Deputy Chairman for calendar year 2024. 

The seminar on Diversity and Inclusive work practices was held at Hotel U14 on January 24th. The event was organized in collaboration with Embassy of Ireland in Helsinki and Enterprise Ireland Nordics. 

We had a great group of panelists and we wish to thank Sandra Healy, Siobhán McKenna, Mikko Räsänen, Elin Eklöf and John Nylund for their valuable insights on preparing for the workforce of today and tomorrow.  There was also very active audience who presented numerous questions highlighting the importance of this topic. 

IBC will continue to support the diversity and adaptation in work places by offering networking and discussion opportunities to our members. 

Key takeaways summarized well by Embassy:

- Workplace expectations are changing, employees increasingly choose to work for employers whose values better match their own.

- Ensuring diversity means hiring best talent, their skillsets and their potential 

- Migration has always happened and it will increase due to climate change - smart businesses will be those who are proactive in capturing the opportunities.

- Ireland and Finland can share experiences as countries with long histories of outward migration, but comparatively recent experiences of inward migration. 

The group of Irish start-ups and scaling tech companies will be present in the coming SLUSH which takes place November 30th - December 1st.

"Slush is the focal point in the Northern European tech calendar, it is the place start up and scaling technology companies meet with toptier international corporates, influencers, investors and media. The two-day event brings together the leading tech scene in wintery Scandinavia, amidst one of the most dynamic tech ecosystems in the world."

Enterprise Ireland 

Irish Business Club has bought in 1990 a facsimile copy of Book of Kells  and donated it to National Library in Helsinki. Usually this great historical book is seen only at the Library of Trinity College in Dublin in the glass box and you cannot touch the book. 

The physical book was show cased recently in the connection of the opening of the exhibition "Ireland and the Birth of Europe" . The book is not available for public every day but can be pre-ordered to be seen by anyone. It has been of great benefit for the researchers of history of Europe. 

On January 12th a seminar on Circular Economy was organized at U14 Hotel together with the Embassy of Ireland. The occasion was honored by Minister of State of Ireland with responsibility for the Circular Economy, Mr Ossian Smyth T.D. The panel consisted on four speakers; Kari Herlevi, Project Director at Sitra, Enni Karikoski, Founder and CEO of Niimaar, Dr Sarah Miller, Chief Executive of The Rediscovery Centre Dublin and Mari Saario, Director of Sustainability at Sulapac. The discussion was moderated by Ken Dooley, Professor of Practice from Aalto University.

 On June 2nd the Irish Government launched the first ever Nordic Strategy which covers different areas of focus for coming years. The virtual launch was presented by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden together with Icelandic Permanent State Secretary. This was followed a panel discussion on the economic aspects of the Nordic Strategy. Topic was discussed by Hannah Fraser, Enterprise Ireland, Kevin O Donovan from Statkraft and Alan O'Kelly from Premium Power.

At the end of the summer we had the great pleasure to welcome the new Ambassador of Ireland, H.E. Mrs Ruth Parkin to Helsinki. The Irish Business Club is now invited to meet with the Ambassador via a virtual breakfast meeting on Tuesday 1st of December. Meeting details have been shared via email to all members.

We celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Irish Business Club with 52 members and guests on the 3rd of October 2019. The event began at the National Library with an insightful and wonderfully entertaining talk on the Book of Kells by Dr Jaakko Tahkokallio, after which we had the opportunity to examine the facsimile of the medieval manuscript purchased and donated to the libary by the IBC back in 1990.

After the enlightening session on the Book of Kells, the festivities continued at the Irish Embassy Residence, where we had the pleasure to hear from our esteemed guests from Ireland, Chargë d’Affaires Eddie Brannigan and Ambassador Daithí Ó Ceallaigh, who spoke warmly about Finnish-Irish relations and also touched on the impending decision on Brexit.

As guests mingled and enjoyed refreshments, the celebrations were also joined by former president Tarja Halonen, an avid supporter of the club over the years.

Warm thanks for a successful evening go to all those who helped organise the event – and of course to all our members and guests who attended the shindig. Here’s to the next thirty years, slàinte!

Irish Business Club (IBC) has given the Shamrock Award on the 9th of November 2017 to the Honorary Consul Mr Erkki Yrjölä for his active role and achievements in developing the business relations between Ireland and Finland for more than 30 years.

Shamrock Award is given to the persons who have influenced the Irish-Finnish business society in an exceptional way. This award has been given earlier to:

Tom Eklund 2008 Chairman of Finnish Business Club in Dublin

Anders Ahlqvist 2004 Professor of Old and Middle Irish Celtic Philology

Keijo Suila 2002 CEO Finnair

Harri Holkeri 2000 Northern Ireland peace negotiator

Daithi O’Ceallaigh 1998 The first Ambassador of Ireland in Helsinki