MORE THAN 300 young Irish professionals turned out in central London last night to listen to a discussion with former attorney general and current chairman of Goldman Sachs International Peter Sutherland at the Royal College of Physicians.
The event, the fourth in a series of public discussions with leading Irish business figures, was organised by the London Irish Business Society (LIBS), a group that aims to provide a forum for Irish business professionals based in London to network and share ideas.
The Irish TimesInternational Edition sponsored the event, along with finance group First Derivatives and PCU3ED.
The series has been hugely popular with the community of young Irish professionals working in London and is seen by many as a positive way to engage with other Irish emigrants in both a professional and personal light.
Deirdre O’Connor, who has lived in the UK for more than 10 years, said tickets to the events were snapped up quickly.
“My friends organised a syndicate among themselves in an attempt to get tickets. We all sign up and pass the e-mails around quickly to make sure we don’t miss out.”
The audience is largely dominated by younger, recent graduates eager to network and find some much-needed assistance while working their way up the career ladder.
“It’s good to be with Irish people who are on the same wavelength and it can be comforting to be part of this community,” said Ruth Connolly, who left Dundalk for London a year ago.
However, the choice of speakers, which has recently included International Airline Group chief executive Willie Walsh, is a big attraction.
Dublin-born Daniel McMahon described Peter Sutherland as one of the “most professional businessmen to come out of Ireland”, adding that while he attended mainly to hear Mr Sutherland, he hoped to build on previous business success found through the society’s events.
The society has grown rapidly in the past 18 months in London and is spoken of highly throughout the Irish community.
The group was praised for its “tremendous effort and remarkable success”, by BTIG managing director Chris McGale, who said he believed it was a great resource for the younger Irish generation in London.
The group aims to facilitate events for the Irish diaspora to connect with the current affairs of their country from abroad, said the society’s chairman, Darren Glynn, and provide an opportunity for them to engage with business leaders and their contemporaries.