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November 2005

Sir Wilfred Grenfell College signs MOU with

Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology

On November 10, 2005 SWGC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a delegation of Irish representatives.  The MOU outlined, in principle, the various projects on which the partners are collaboration.  The Irish delegation included Mr. Tony Niland, manager of external services at IADT, Dr. Jim Devine, director of IADT and Ms. Anne O’Leary, coordinator of the B.A. in Film and Television Production at the national Film School of Ireland. 

One of the projects discussed was the Learning Vacation Program, which would see Irish clients recruited in IADT going to Corner Brook and participating in an educational program which enjoying a vacation in Western Newfoundland.  SWGC will also be looking to benefit from the Irish delegation’s experience in the development of new programming in film and television production. 

Grenfell College will also be introducing a new B.A. degree in Tourism Studies and is working with the Tourism and Hospitality Research Group at the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) to provide professional development services in Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Seabed Mapping Project   
The Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development and the Marine Institute of Ireland jointly issued a Request for Proposals to carry out a market study and to develop a business plan for the pursuit of international seabed mapping contracts in the marine and geosciences sector. With the emergence of requirements for seabed mapping under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other needs of the marine and geosciences sectors, whether oil and gas or communications, Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador are well positioned to jointly take advantage of these opportunities.

• Advertisement for Request for Proposals (PDF)

Irish work visa program for youth up to age 35 
As the Irish economy and casual job market have improved over the last five years, job opportunities are plentiful in Dublin and Ireland. The Working Holiday Program called SWAP offers twelve month work permits to youth up to age 35. For more information, visit www.swap.ca/english/html/glance/fs_ireland.htm

September 2005

Visit of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, T.D.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, T.D. made
his first official visit to St. John’s September 16-17, 2005. His visit included a private meeting with the Premier, media conference, an interpreted tour of the City, a reception at the Rooms for those with Irish/Newfoundland connections, a private mass and tour of the Basilica and a visit with men who had attended All Hallows College. During the visit, the Taoiseach and the Premier together highlighted a number of Irish/Newfoundland business interests that are ongoing. These included Butler Manufacturing Services Ltd., water treatment systems; FK Developments Limited, resort development in Steady Brook; Oceanview Developments, real estate development in Maddox Cove, and; Newfound Properties International, resort development in Rosscommon, Ireland.

News Releases

• Taoiseach Ahern, Premier Williams highlight Irish-Newfoundland initiatives
• Irish prime minister to visit province

Sheilagh O’Leary Photographic Exhibition “Twinning Lines”
Twinning Lines is a photographic view of same name families in St. John’s and the Irish loop on one side and the people living in County Waterford, Ireland on the other emphasizing similarities in facial structure. The images cross reference age and gender in the two regions. Photographer Sheilagh O’Leary was on hand for the opening of the exhibition in Waterford on November 4, 2004 and in St. John’s on September 15, 2005. The exhibition will remain as a permanent display at City Hall.

Opening of Limestone Barrens Exhibition at the Rooms
Limestone Barrens is an exhibit which is part of an interdisciplinary creative exchange between Ireland, Newfoundland and Ontario. Artists were asked to produce works based on the limestone barrens of the Burrin in Co. Clare, the Northern Peninsula in Newfoundland and the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. The exhibition which opened at the Rooms on September 17, 2005 and will be on display until the end of December.  Click here to read the full press release.

Twinning of Board of Trade with Waterford Chamber of Commerce   In September 2005, the St. John’s Board of Trade signed a twinning agreement with the Waterford Chamber of Commerce. The MOU cites the promotion and encouragement of exchanges of a cultural, tourist, educational, social, sporting, and economic and business nature of beneficial interest to both communities.

Spirit of Newfoundland Productions
Spirit of Newfoundland Productions was the only Canadian entry accepted to compete in the Waterford International Lite Opera Festival in Waterford in September 2005. The company won the Adjudicators Award and has been invited back for a one week tour later this year.

The theatre troupe performed the award winning Broadway production Nunsense. Performers included Shelley Neville, Kelly Ann Evans, Sheila Williams, Petrina Bromley, Cheri Carroll, Peter Halley, Sean Carroll, Steve Power and George Morgan. This marked Spirit of Newfoundland Production’s first competition at an international level. The Waterford International Lite Opera Festival has been a prestigious competition since its inception in 1959. Part of the competition allows each entry to use the Festival’s seven piece orchestra.
Click here to read the full news release.

Incoming Irish Seafood Mission
Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Seafood Marketing Board worked with the Department of Innovation Trade and Rural Development, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association to bring a group of five seafood companies to this province for three days in September 2005. The group, who participated in an Irish Strategic Seafood Management Development Program, planned to identify opportunities in the areas of new product development, new processing technology and raw material suppliers. While here, they visited the Marine Institute, toured a local shellfish production facility in Conception Bay North and attended meetings with local industry representatives.

Butler Manufacturing Services, North America
Construction Management Technologies, through an agreement with Butler Manufacturing of Ireland is the North American licensee for wastewater treatment units designed in Ireland and built in Newfoundland. This process will utilize the BMS Blivet which is an all-in-one packaged sewage treatment prefabricated plant.The company has just secured its first contract with the U.S. military to supply two systems for Afghanistan. Manufacturing is taking place in Branch, NL.
Click here to read the full news release

June 2005

Visit of Irish Minister of Art Sport and Tourism
Minister John O’Donoghue, Minister of Art Sport and Tourism accepted Minister Paul Shelley’s invitation to attend the Opening of the Rooms on June 29, 2005. Accompanying his delegation were his Secretary General Phillip Furlong, Ambassador Burke, Irish Ambassador to Canada and a number of Irish officials and community leaders in the arts in Ireland. The five day visit included meetings with government, industry and community leaders. During his visit, Minister O’Donoghue officially opened an Irish Exhibition at the Rooms.

Comharsana Beal Dorais (Next Door Neighbours) is an exhibition of Contemporary Irish art drawn from the Collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). It was selected in response to an invitation from Minister Paul Shelley, Minister of Tourism Culture and Recreation to mark the opening of the Rooms. The exhibit was opened on June 30, 2005 will be on display to the end of December. Click here to read the full press release.

Humber Seasons/FK Developments
FK Developments, a property development arm of FK Group whose head quarters are located in Moate in the Midlands of Ireland, has recently been granted approval from Steady Brook Town Council to build the $25 million “Humber Seasons”, a high-end resort featuring a hotel, townhouses, and a five-star restaurant and a number of amenities on a 5.5 acre parcel of land in Steady Brook, NL.  The proposed development will be situated on the Banks of the Humber River in the direct shadow of Marble Mountain. 
 

May 2005

Festival of the Sea
Minister Sullivan accompanied a delegation of 28 Newfoundlanders to the Waterford Wexford Counties in May 2005.  During this visit Minister Sullivan had an opportunity to meet with Minister Michael Ahern, Minister for International Trade, Minister Martin Cullen, Minister for Transport and Ambassador Mark Moher, Canadian Ambassador to Ireland.  During that visit, Cathy Duke Executive Director also met with representatives of the Ireland Newfoundland Partnership (INP) Board of Directors and other key municipal leaders, community leaders, businesses and Irish government officials.

The Festival of the Sea, a new festival initiated by Ireland and designed to promote the cultural, historical and community ties between Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador, will alternate each year between Ireland and the Province.  The inaugural event occurred May 27 – June 6, 2005 in Waterford-Wexford, Ireland. Twenty participants from the Southern Shore and Cape Shore attended the festival where they actively participated in various lectures, symposiums, demonstrations and performances carried out in a series of communities throughout the county and in such areas as arts and entertainment, wildlife, heritage, boat building, fisheries and community development. Newfoundland will play host to the second annual festival in September 2006 when the festival will be hosted on the southern Avalon. 

Minister Sullivan represented the Premier at the official opening of the Festival and a number of provincial and federal government representatives attended various aspects of the festival. Click here to read the full news release

April 2005

Visit of the City of Waterford
In April 2005, representatives from the City of Waterford visited St. John’s to further advance discussions under their MOU with the City of St. John’s. During that time Minister Dunderdale and Executive Director Cathy Duke had an opportunity to meet with the City Mayor and City Manager and other Irish officials.

Technology Transfer Pilot Project between Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development    In the spring of 2005, the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development (INTRD) and Enterprise Ireland (EI) launched a technology transfer pilot project. The project establishes a process to accelerate the rate of business partnerships between Newfoundland and Labrador and Ireland. EI will develop and share with INTRD enquiries from Irish companies seeking partners in North America. The province would then use its local networks (e.g. industry associations, chambers of commerce, REDBs) to disseminate the generated profiles with the objective of seeking a NL partner. In return, the province has established a system to generate profiles of NL companies seeking technology transfer partners in Europe, which in turn will be shared with EI. Several companies are currently at various stages in this process.

March 2005

North Atlantic Minerals Symposium
An outcome of the MOU between Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador focuses on drawing attention to the considerable mineral development opportunities that exist on both sides of the Atlantic. It aims to seek out the major issues facing the industry today and provided a forum where many of these issues were discussed. The Petroleum Affairs Division of Natural Resources in Ireland recently held an international symposium to discuss future potential for exploration of hydrocarbon deposits off the coast of Ireland. Memorial University  participated in partnership with IBP.

Premier Williams announces senior appointment to Ireland Business Partnerships (March 7, 2005)
Premier Danny Williams today announced the appointment of Cathy Duke as the new executive director of the Ireland Business Partnerships (IBP) in the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development. Ms. Duke will lead the province’s efforts in identifying, fostering and promoting trade and partnership opportunities with Ireland in business, education and culture. Click here to read the full press release.

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                                                           Last updated: April 27, 2006