FORMER US secretary for homeland security Tom Ridge and Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern will address delegates at a conference on international intelligence-sharing which opens in Co Waterford today.
Mr Ridge, who was appointed to the newly created cabinet post by former president George W Bush following the September 11th terrorist attacks and is now the chief executive of a private security consultancy firm in Washington, will deliver the keynote address to delegates at the two-day Dungarvan Global Intelligence Forum.
The event is being organised by the Institute for Intelligence Studies at Mercyhurst, a third-level college in Pennsylvania, which already has established links with Ireland. The college, in the city of Erie, was originally founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1926 and offers a range of degree courses to about 4,000 students. It claims to be one of America’s “pre-eminent authorities in the field of intelligence analysis” and provides training for the FBI.
A spokesman for Mercyhurst said the conference in Dungarvan was intended as “a platform to share intelligence dos and don’ts from an international perspective”. He hoped it would become “an annual event”.
The conference, which is being attended by about 150 delegates from 15 countries, was “bringing together practitioners . . . to share best practices in intelligence analysis”. He said “as more nations continue to enhance security measures . . . Ireland is making an effort to capitalise on the revenue-generating opportunities”.
Dungarvan is already twinned with Erie under a “Sister Cities” programme and Waterford Fine Gael TD John Deasy, a graduate of Mercyhurst, has encouraged links between the college and his home town. Earlier this year, Mercyhurst sent six faculty members and 26 students to Dungarvan for a 10-week study trip and is understood to be considering opening a permanent European campus.
Mr Deasy said: “The security industry is the fourth-largest in the world and, until now, it has escaped the Irish Government as an opportunity for growth.”
The international civil security market is worth an estimated €100 billion a year and, he claimed, presented opportunities to Irish companies.
