Former taoiseach Enda Kenny is the chairman of the advisory board of the US-Ireland Partnership for Growth, which was established in Washington DC last year.
Earlier this week the group said that it would be facilitating a five-day visit of senior US congressional staff to Ireland in the autumn.
The announcement was made at a reception it held at Eastern Market in Washington, close to Capitol Hill, during the week to welcome the new Congress which came into office in January. The event attracted a good crowd of politicians and their staff, particularly for a wet winter evening.
Irish ambassador to Washington Geraldine Byrne Nason and some of her officials were in attendance. Mr Kenny was not present in Washington for the event but another advisory board member and former politician, Lucinda Creighton, chief executive of Vulcan Consulting, was there.
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Executive director of the US-Ireland Partnership for Growth Ben English said it facilitated engagement between businesses with operations both in Ireland and the United States and Government leaders dedicated to promoting shared economic opportunities.
We are excited about the power of our programmes, like our congressional delegation, to unlock further economic opportunity
— Ben English, executive director of US-Ireland Partnership for Growth
The advisory board of the organisation also includes former members of the US Congress Patrick Murphy, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, and Republican Tom Rooney of Florida. The Partnership said its member base included Microsoft, Stripe, Workday, Oracle, Lilly, Horizon, Sazerac and ServiceNow.
At the event Mr English said: “Now more than ever, an economic focus is key to maintaining and growing the economic relationship between Ireland and the US. Sitting at the intersection of FDIs and Irish companies investing into Ireland, we are excited about the power of our programmes, like our congressional delegation, to unlock further economic opportunity.”
The partnership said it curates events, policy discussions and programmes that help corporations remove barriers to growth and fuel a symbiotic economic relationship between the US and Ireland.
Among the 20 or so members of Congress who attended the reception were Eric Swalwell, Ami Bera, Brian Higgins, John Larson, Carol Miller, Abigail Spanberger, Joe Wilson, Nicole Malliotakis, Nanette Barrigan and Ron Estes.
We await their visit later this year with interest.
