Taoiseach to attend Cork Chamber dinner

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen is to be the guest of honour at this year’s Cork Chamber annual dinner.

Close to 900 guests are expected at City Hall on Friday night for the event, which is one of the biggest of its kind in the country for the business community.

Tickets for the black-tie event dropped by €10 to €150 for this year’s event and sold out within a few days.

The winner of the Cork company of the year will be announced on the night.

Last year’s guest speaker was entrepreneur Denis O’Brien while pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly was named company of the year.

Bandon-based Newsweaver was named Cork SME company of the year and Cubic Telecom was named as emerging company of the year.

Over the years guests of honour have included Bank of Ireland governor, Richard Burrows, CRH chief Liam O’Mahony, Peter Sutherland and Willie Walsh, former head of Aer Lingus and now of British Airways.

Cork Chamber CEO, Conor Healy said there is as much appetite for the event as ever.

“It just goes to show that the business community are willing and anxious to get out and network. This is the premier business event in the region,” he said.

The business community will be joined by heads of State agencies, local and national politicians on the night. This is the first annual dinner for Cork Chamber president, Ger O’Mahony. Mr O’Mahony is the regional partner in charge for financial firm Deloitte, with responsibility for the firm’s Cork and Limerick offices.