The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, P.C., C.C., LL.D.

In September 1984, Brian Mulroney led the Progressive Conservative party to the largest victory in Canadian history, becoming Canada's eighteenth
Prime Minister.

He was re-elected with a majority government four years later thereby
becoming the first Canadian Prime Minister in 35 years to win successive
majority governments and the first Conservative Prime Minister to do so in 100 years.  He resigned in June 1993, having served almost 9 years as Prime Minister.

His government introduced bold new initiatives such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Canada-U.S. Acid Rain Treaty.  Prime Minister Mulroney's government also introduced a series of privatizations, a low inflation policy, historic tax reform, extensive deregulation and expenditure reduction policies that continue to be the basis of Canada's impressive economic performance today.

Prime Minister Mulroney also served as Co-Chairman of the United Nations Summit on Children and his government played leading roles in the campaign against apartheid in South Africa, the creation of Le Sommet de la Francophonie and the Gulf War.

Mr. Mulroney was born in Baie Comeau, Quebec in 1939, one of 6 children.  His father, Benedict, was an electrician with the Quebec North Shore Paper Company.  He graduated from St. Thomas College High School, Chatham, N.B., received his honours undergraduate degree from St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, N.S., and a law degree from Université Laval in Quebec City.

He practised law in Montreal and served as President of the Iron Ore Company of Canada before entering politics by becoming Party Leader in 1983 and Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons, to which he was first elected in 1983 and re-elected in 1984 and 1988. Upon resigning, Mr. Mulroney rejoined the Montreal law firm of Ogilvy Renault as Senior Partner. He serves as a director of Barrick Gold Corporation [Toronto], Archer Daniels Midland Company [Decatur], Cendant Corporation, Trizec Properties Inc. [New York], Independent News and Media, PLC [Dublin], Quebecor Inc., and Quebecor World Inc. [Montreal].

Mr. Mulroney acts as Senior Counselor to HM Capital Partners, a private equity firm [Dallas].
He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Quebecor World Inc., [Montreal] and Chairman of Forbes International [New York] and Chairman of the International Advisory Board of Barrick Gold Corporation [Toronto].

Mr. Mulroney serves as Chairman and Director of Persona Communications, Inc. [St. John's] Director of Quebecor Media [Montréal] and Said Holdings Limited [Bermuda], all privately held companies.
He is also a member of the International Advisory Councils of the China International Trust and Investment Corporation [Beijing]; JPMorgan Chase & Co., [New York]; Independent News and Media, PLC [Dublin] and Lion Capital LLP [London].

Mr. Mulroney is also a Trustee of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, the International Advisory Council of the École des Hautes études commerciales de Montréal; [Montréal]; The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, and the Council on Foreign Relations [New York].
Mr. Mulroney has been awarded Canada's highest honour, Companion of the Order of Canada, and has also been made a Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Québec. He has received honorary degrees and awards from universities and governments at home and abroad.

In 2000, the McGill University North American Studies Institute determined that Mr. Mulroney had the best economic record of any Prime Minister since World War II.  In 2003, the Institute for Research on Public Policy placed Mr. Mulroney as 2nd in a ranking of the best prime ministers of the previous 50 years.  In 2006, a panel of Canada’s leading environmental groups determined that Mr. Mulroney was “The Greenest Prime Minister in history.”
In 1973, he married Mila Pivnicki and they have four children: Caroline (1974), Benedict (1976), Mark (1979) and Nicolas (1985). They reside in Westmount, Quebec.

 Thomas P. O’Neill III

Thomas P. O’Neill III is chief executive officer of O’Neill and Associates. Based in Boston, Mr. O’Neill oversees all aspects of the company and client servicing. He directs strategic planning and management of the company’s overall marketing efforts, long term growth and business opportunities.
Mr. O’Neill was president of McDermott/O’Neill & Associates, a major government relations and communications consulting firm, as well as FH/GPC. Prior to forming McDermott/O’Neill, Mr. O’Neill served as president of Bay State Investors using his 13 years of government experience to advise clients on all aspects of government relations at the local, state and federal levels.

From 1975 to 1983, Mr. O’Neill served as lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During his term of office, Mr. O’Neill created and administered the Office of Federal-State Relations in Boston and Washington, D.C. During this time he also served on the U.S. State Department Ambassadorial Screening Committee. Prior to becoming lieutenant governor, Mr. O’Neill served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Mr. O’Neill currently serves as chairman on the Board of Trustees for the Mount Auburn Hospital. Mr. O’Neill also sits on the Board of Trustees for Boston College and on the Board of Directors for CareGroup, New England’s second largest health care service provider. Mr. O’Neill received his bachelor’s degree from Boston College and earned his master’s in public administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

 Chris Doherty

Chris Doherty is a Senior High Yield Research Analyst and Director at CIBC World Markets in New York.  His coverage universe includes industrial and building supply companies.  Chris has twelve years of experience analyzing and advising companies.  Prior to joining CIBC, Chris worked at Jefferies & Company, Inc.  Before becoming a research analyst, Chris was a Manager at Kroll Zolfo Cooper where he advised distressed and bankrupt businesses and various other interested parties and earlier was an investment banker at SG Cowen Securities Corporation.  Chris started his career at Arthur Andersen LLP.

Chris graduated from Villanova University with a B.S. in Accountancy and received a MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.  Chris is a CFA charterholder and a NASD registered research analyst and holds an inactive CPA license in the state of Maryland.  Besides his involvement with The American Ireland Fund, Chris served on his Georgetown class’s new building capital campaign. Chris lives in Ridgewood, NJ with his wife, Colleen.