Ms Jacqueline Gilna:

We connect culture with commerce. There are three different audiences. We facilitate business to and from the island of Ireland, among the Irish abroad and among the diaspora. There are three different communities and three different messaging services and systems. As for the Irish at home, I go back to the point earlier about small and medium-sized businesses, SMBs, and going abroad and having that opportunity but not quite qualifying with our State agencies.

With the Irish abroad, we have a lot of inbound inquiries from people trying to take their operations and products abroad. The Irish abroad are a very different category. We are Irish citizens and passport holders but, unfortunately, without a vote. I am one of the Irish abroad and my colleague and I are here today in that context and as part of what we do in We are Global Irish Inc. Those who live abroad have a much stronger connection with the homeland in which we were born and raised. Members of the Irish diaspora connect very much through surnames. When I asked my colleague, Mr. O'Hara, where his mum, dad, grandparents and so on were from, he explained to me his history. That is what the diaspora is and we must not lose touch with it. We also must not forget the Irish abroad. They are a very big market for us. It is about connecting the Irish abroad with the Irish at home.

The ambassador, Dr. Eamonn McKee, is very active in connecting culture with commerce, as were our previous two ambassadors, the late Mr. Jim Kelly and Dr. Ray Bassett. People can search coast to coast in Canada and find people with Irish names, perhaps starting with their own. In doing so, they have been able to connect their culture with the business community. I would like to think this idea was completely mine but I was fortunate to have been invited to an economic forum at which something similar was discussed. Years later, I thought: "Why not pursue this?" I engaged with a few people, who came and left, and I then took the idea forward by myself. We are Global Irish Inc. connects culture with commerce. We welcome working with State agencies and the Government.