AMBASSADOR'S OUTREACH

(L-R: Professor Peter Gregson, Ambassador Thomas C. Foley, Ambassador Robert Holmes Tuttle, Mrs. Maria Tuttle and Mrs. Rachael Gregson.)

Entrepreneurship was the theme during a joint visit to Northern Ireland by the U.S. Ambassador to the U.K., Ambassador Robert Holmes Tuttle and the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Ambassador Thomas C. Foley on 26 February 2007.

On the first day of a two-day visit, Ambassador Tuttle and Ambassador  Foley, launched an exciting new initiative organized by InterTradeIreland and supported by business people across the island.

The All-Island Entrepreneur Network aims to stimulate business knowledge and best practice, and will encourage smaller companies to expand into wider markets. Launching this dynamic new network, the two Ambassadors talked to guests about their own unique experiences of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Speaking about the network, Ambassador Tuttle said: "This new organization will help create vibrant mentoring relationships, North and South. It will also inspire many young, and not-so-young, who are thinking about starting their own businesses to take the next step".

Ambassador Foley added: "Small businesses represent 99.7% of all firms in the U.S. We hope that the All-Ireland Entrepreneur Network will galvanize Ireland's further potential for entrepreneurship in this new global and creative, economy:"

(L-R: Ambassador Thomas C. Foley with Ms. Bernie Murphy, CEO of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.)

Earlier in the day, the Ambassadors were hosted by Queen's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Gregson, along with representatives of the U.S.-Ireland Research and Development Partnerships Steering Committee. Also at Queens, the Ambassadors met representatives of the International Research Centre for Experimental Physics whose expertise in experimental physics has sparked numerous cross-border relationships.

Building on the strong entrepreneurial focus, the Ambassadors also engaged with local participants on the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a U.S.- based project that encourages young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to realize their entrepreneurial potential. NFTE is currently being piloted among budding entrepreneurs in three Belfast schools and is also running successfully in Dublin.

An additional visit to Belfast City hospital included calls with medical experts who are teaming with their colleagues across the Atlantic to tackle diseases such as cancer and cystic fibrosis.