Members of The Ireland Fund of Japan at The Ireland Funds Worldwide Conference 2004

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were privileged to join 250 fellow sponsors and supporters from the ten Ireland Fund countries – USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Monaco, Great Britain and of course Ireland – for the annual Worldwide Ireland Funds Conference in Dublin from June 20 to 24, 2004

Our group consisted of my husband Erik Monsen and myself, Tetsuji Shibayama, head of Sotheby’s Japan, Shigeru and Yuko Matsui, of Matsui Shipping, and Roku Yamaji with his wife Junko Shimada, the well known Japanese fashion designer who is based in Paris.

Sunday June 20th
We checked into the Merrion Hotel, Dublin, one of Ireland’s most luxurious 5-star hotels and a sponsor of The Ireland Fund of Japan for many years. The hotel was created in 1997 from four beautifully restored Georgian townhouses and is set in the heart of Georgian Dublin on Upper Merrion Street. It houses what is considered to be one of the most important art collections in Ireland.

For four days we enjoyed the best that Dublin has to offer. Our first evening opened with a special performance at the Abbey Theatre where we were joined by An Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Mr. Bertie Ahern on the eve of his departure for Japan. The performance was followed by dinner at The Market Bar in Sade Street.

Monday June 21st
A private train took us to Belfast where we visited key projects funded by The Ireland Funds. These included Queen’s University, and Hazelwood Integrated primary school where the students staged an exceptional performance of song, dance and drama. The culmination of the day was Kingsley Aikins’ presentation of a $1 million gift to the school from the Australian Ireland Fund.

Tuesday June 22nd
Board members and delegates attended the Ireland Funds Strategic Planning Session at the Shelburne Hotel. Booths were set up to show the work of the various Funds around the world. The Wine Geese Booth was one of the most popular, complete with a wine tasting of some very fine “Irish” wines.

While our board members attended to Ireland Fund business, our Japanese guests were hosted for golf at Tulfarris Golf Club by David Barry, an Ireland Fund of Japan member and a partner in Tulfarris. David is a Director of Barclay’s Asia Pacific. A one hour drive from Dublin, Wingate Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort is set on three peninsulas overlooking Blessington Lakes and surrounded by stunning views of the Wicklow Mountains.

On Tuesday evening a black tie gala dinner was held at Deerpark, the magnificent residence of the American Ambassador to Ireland. The evening was true Irish weather – cold, wet and windy – but the enormous Irish Wolfhound puppets greeting guests immediately put everyone in party mode.

Guests of honor Irish President Mary McAleese and her husband joined US Ambassador and Mrs. Murphy in welcoming us to their historical home. The US Embassy residence, Deerpark, with sixty two acres of grounds, is situated in Phoenix Park the largest city park in Europe (1,760 acres) and one of the largest in the world.

The house was completed in 1776, the year of American independence. Former residents include the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Castlereagh. Lord Randolph Churchill and son Winston. Following the reception and dinner at the US Embassy, our group continued the celebrations at The Merrion Hotel.

Wednesday June 23rd
On Wednesday the Ireland Funds’ Conference Cup golf tournament was held at the Arnold Palmer designed South Course at the magnificent K Club which is set among 550 acres of County Kildare countryside by the River Liffey about 30 minutes from Dublin. It was the former home of the Barton family of the Barton & Guestier winery in Bordeaux and was opened in 1991 as a luxurious hotel and country club. The K. Club was to host the Smurfit European Open the day following our event and the K Club will also host the 2006 Ryder Cup.

The K Club, County Kildare Unfortunately for our group, the day of our golf event arrived wet and windy but the hardy golfers decided to test their mettle and returned to the hotel soaked to the skin.

Photo Index 1. Junko Shimada, Shigeru Matsui, Roku Yamaji, Erik Monsen, Yuko Matsui, and Mary Kilgarriff outside The Merrion Hotel. 2. IFJ members were joined at the Abbey Theatre by Mrs. & Mrs. Arakawa of the Japanese Embassy Dublin and Kit Condron & his wife from New York. Tetsuji Shibayama, President of Sotheby’s Japan is back on right. 3. Kingsley Aikins visits our table at The Market Bar, Sade Street, following the Abbey Theatre. Una Kilgarriff Dooney joined us for dinner. 4. At Queens University with Sheila O’Malley, a board member of The American Ireland Fund and president of the Irish Georgian Society in the US and Brigitte Wagner-Halswick, president of The Ireland Fund of Germany and Managing Director of Rowe Pharmaceuticals. 5. John Fitzpatrick & guests with Mary Kilgarriff. 6. John Sharkey, Mary Kilgarriff and a guest sample the wines! 7. Guests enjoying themselves. 8. The Arakawas from the Japanese Embassy Dublin, and the Matsuis enjoying the reception. 9. Enjoying cocktails at the US Embassy. L to R. Yuko Matsui, Erik Monsen, Liam Shanahan, Mary Kilgariff, Junko Shimada and Ruth Shanahan. 10. On the train to Belfast. 11. At the conference. 12. The golfers setting off with David Barry. 13. Tetsuji Shibayama, president of Sotheby’s Japan, with Ireland’s President Mary McAleese. 14. Irish Wolfhound! 15. Liam & Ruth Shanahan at the Merrion Hotel.