Toronto St. Patrick's Lunch : 10th March 2006

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The 24th Annual St. Patrick's Day Luncheon was perfection on all accounts. With a 4am start for the decor volunteers and lots of coffee, the team set up a visually appealing Irish Luncheon that hosted 1283 Corporate Canada guests for the best Irish party in town. The Co-Chairs of the Event, Mark Purdy and Philip Armstrong had worked for many months with the volunteer committee to access new corporate sponsors and tables which ensured that this year was the most successful in fund raising in the history of the Luncheon. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our Corporate Sponsors: Guinness (Diageo Canada Inc.), BMW Toronto, Chateau de La Ligne, Jamesons Irish Whiskey, Tourism Ireland, Zoom Airlines and the many wonderful donors to the raffle prize table.

Susan Storey, Chair of The Ireland Fund of Canada welcomed the guests and noted the ongoing work in Ireland for the furthering of the peace process and extended the Board's gratitude to the Co-Chairs for their tremendous efforts. The Head Table Guests of Honour this year were The Honourable John N. Turner, Q.C., Former Prime Minister of Canada, His Excellency Martin Burke, Ireland's Ambassador to Canada, His Execency David Reddaway, British High Commissioner, Nicholas Armour, British Consul General, Ted McConnell, Honourary Consul General for Ireland, Mayor David Miller, Senator Joseph B. Silver, Wexford Senate of Ireland, Deputy Chief Kim Derry, Miss World Canada Ramona Amir, John Doyle, Walter Schauer, John Dunne, Ted Murphy,Erin Davis, Grand Marshall of the Toronto St. Patrick's Day Parade, Bob Huitema, Emilie Corcoran, Father Pat O'Dea and Gerry Crowe, Irish Person of the Year 2006.

Mark Dailey and Hugo Straney were once again our tremendous co- Master of Ceremonies and regaled all with their Irish wit and kept the pace at a great clip before our Live Auctioneer, Hal Hannaford took the stage and raised over $39,000 for our three tremendous prizes of a stay at the stunning 12th century Chateau, a year's lease on the hottest new 3 series BMW and a tour of Ireland. With Guinness and Jamesons Irish Whiskey as our sponsors and live music and entertainment throughout the event it was difficult to close the doors of our Irish party at 5pm that Friday, March 10th!

We look forward to welcoming you to each of our upcoming events and see you next Friday, March 16th 2007 for the 25th Annual St. Patrick's Day Luncheon!