During his visit to Cork to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Joining the Dots, British Ambassador to Ireland, Paul Johnston, announced the British Embassy’s new Honorary Consul for the South West of Ireland, Katherine Fitzpatrick, alongside the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy and Ann Doherty, CEO of Cork City Council, at Cork City Hall.
\nPicture: Alison Miles \/ OSM PHOTO<\/p>\n
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Appointment\u00a0will\u00a0further strengthen UK\u00a0links with the region<\/b><\/p>\n
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The British Embassy in Ireland today (20 Oct<\/span><\/u>) marked five years of their<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>regional cooperation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>programme, *Joining the Dots, by announcing the appointment of<\/span>\u00a0a new<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Honorary\u00a0Consul for the South West of Ireland. *Katherine Fitzpatrick will take up the role<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>immediately. Her focus will be<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>encourage greater business, research,\u00a0people-to-people,\u00a0ci \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking about the appointment,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>the British Ambassador to Ireland, Paul Johnston said:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “This week we mark the five year anniversary of Joining the Dots and we are delighted to do so by appointing Katherine Fitzpatrick as Honorary\u00a0Consul for the South West of Ireland.\u00a0This is a region of great importance to the UK-Ireland relationship, and of great potential. Which is why we launched JTD here in 2018.\u00a0As a native of Cork and someone who is expert in supporting businesses to develop international networks, Katherine\u00a0is a brilliant choice and\u00a0will\u00a0play\u00a0a key\u00a0role in\u00a0supporting\u00a0the Embassy’s work to promote region-to-region engagement.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n “Part of the inspiration for\u00a0Joining the Dots report\u00a0was a survey we did\u00a0in 2018, with Cork Chamber of Commerce,\u00a0where\u00a0we found that 93% of respondents saw potential for greater business links and collaboration between the UK and Ireland.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the five years since,\u00a0we have been busy building cooperation through a series of events in Limerick, Galway, Belfast, Birmingham, Coventry, Derry\/Londonderry, Liverpool and Manchester… and now\u00a0we’re delighted to be\u00a0back\u00a0in\u00a0Cork again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our events across Ireland in the last five years\u00a0have made connections across advanced manufacturing, health & life sciences, urban regeneration, creative industries and now, this week in Cork, we’re focussing on the vital area of\u00a0retrofitting\u00a0homes and businesses.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The relationship between Cork and the South West of Ireland and the UK goes deeper than trade and business. We have strong people to people connections and enjoy close historical, cultural and sporting connections.<\/span>\u00a0We\u00a0build on the strong links Cork and Coventry have with each other,\u00a0being twinned cities since 1958,\u00a0and, of course,\u00a0the historic state visit to\u00a0Ireland\u00a0by\u00a0<\/span>The<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>late<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Queen in 2011, which famously culminated in her visit to Cork.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Quote from Katherine Fitzpatrick<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n “I’m delighted to take on the role of Honorary Consul for the South-West of Ireland. There are so many opportunities for collaboration and engagement between the UK and Ireland across multiple areas, be they business, research, civic or cultural. I strongly believe in the value of building international networks and sharing best practices, so I look forward to helping the British Embassy to expand their networks in the South-West of Ireland, by identifying new opportunities of mutual benefit.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Quote from Lord Mayor of Cork<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n “On behalf of the people of Cork, it was my honour to welcome the British Ambassador to Ireland, Paul Johnston to Cork City Hall this morning for the ‘Joining the Dots’ conference. This programme continues to play an integral role in promoting economic engagement across Ireland and the UK, further deepening the business links between key regions across both countries.\u00a0 With a projected population growth of over 50% by 2040, Cork continues to develop into a more sustainable city for people to live, work, study and invest in.\u00a0 This growth will only be bolstered by the support from programmes such as ‘Joining the Dots’.\u00a0 I would also like to express my congratulations to fellow Corkconian, Katherine Fitzpatrick for being appointed Honorary Consul for the South West of Ireland, and I look forward to working with Katherine to promote Cork as the region to do business in.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During his visit to Cork to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Joining the Dots, British Ambassador to Ireland, Paul Johnston, announced the British Embassy’s new Honorary Consul for the South West of Ireland, Katherine Fitzpatrick, alongside the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy and Ann Doherty, CEO of Cork City Council, at Cork City…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-3","description-off"],"yoast_head":"\n