The Atlantic Corridor delegation in the Spotted Dog pub. Left to Right: John Campbell, Brian Garvan, John Flanagan. Photo by Mike Rast Jr.

Gov. Perdue (left) presents Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern (right) with a collection of Georgia music. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Governor's Office.

Georgia officials meet with the leaders of Northern Ireland. Left to Right: Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, First Min. Ian Paisley, Gov. Perdue, Deputy First Min. Martin McGuinness. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Governor's Office.

Business developers from Atlantic Corridor Ireland in the Midlands region of Ireland and their northern partner, Atlantic Corridor Northern Ireland Ltd., are working to promote business and educational exchanges with Atlanta by visiting the city for the second time this year from Oct. 13-16.  The organizations specifically hope to establish relationships with local universities.

The Atlantic Corridor is a business development group that promotes international partnerships as a means of improving commercial and educational prospects in areas of Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States.

The group’s relationship with Atlanta developed after a meeting with Chris Clark, deputy commissioner of global commerce at the Georgia Department of Economic Development, during a trade mission to Ireland last year. 

Brian Garvan, CEO of Atlantic Corridor Ireland, then contacted Kevin Conboy, president of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the United States Atlanta Chapter, to discuss the possibility of the two becoming partners.  Mr. Garvan cemented that relationship by visiting Atlanta in January 2007.

GlobalAtlanta met with the Irish delegation in the Spotted Dog pub at 30 North Avenue Oct. 15 during a networking event organized by the Irish chamber in Atlanta.  The chamber usually holds its networking meetings at Fadó Irish pub, but that venue is currently moving to a new site on Buckhead Avenue.

The parts of the new Fadó building are being constructed in Dublin and will be shipped to Atlanta to be assembled for the pub’s reopening in January. The Spotted Dog, a renovated Atlanta fire station, is across the street from the Bank of America Plaza, where the chamber holds its monthly business meetings in the offices of Mr. Conboy's employer: Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.

The Atlantic Corridor is “a facilitator of new ideas, new initiatives as to how we can benefit our regions,” John Campbell, CEO of Atlantic Corridor Northern Ireland, told GlobalAtlanta.

Mr. Campbell said that one of his goals in this, his first visit to Atlanta, is to find opportunities for student exchanges between institutions in Northern Ireland such as Queen’s University and Ulster University, and universities in Georgia.

In addition, he works with small- to medium-sized businesses in Northern Ireland interested in exporting to the United States.  “They would like to test their operations by building franchises and partnerships here,” Mr. Campbell said 

He added that the people of Northern Ireland with whom he works are hoping that a direct flight will be established between Atlanta and Belfast, Northern Ireland’s capital, in the near future.

Irish developers are eager to expand their contacts in the Southeast United States as a means of tapping into markets that are largely unknown to Irish businesses.

“Traditionally, Irish people travel to places that they know about; New York, Boston and Chicago,” Mr. Garvan said.  “We think Atlanta is a region that provides great opportunities for business.” 

At least eight Irish companies currently have manufacturing facilities in the Atlanta area.  Atlanta-based companies such as Coca-Cola Co., United Parcel Service Inc. and Equifax Corp. have operations in Ireland.

The Atlantic Corridor links success in business with college-level education and was originally established to promote international business and higher education in the Midlands region of Ireland. 

The Midlands is centered around Lough Ree in central Ireland, stretching from County Tipperary in the south to County Leitrim in the north.  The Atlantic Corridor Ireland is based in Tullamore, a city in County Offaly, in the heart of the Midlands region.

Mr. Garvan said that the need for promoting widespread education in the central counties of Ireland became apparent as the country’s economy became more advanced.

“Business is increasingly looking for skilled workers,” he said.  “A big thing for the Atlantic Corridor is promoting the benefits of higher education."

According to Mr. Garvan, Irish people in the Midlands have historically taken jobs “on the bog,” cutting sods of turf to dry and use as fuel.  This job was passed down from generation to generation and people did not feel the need for advanced education while the economy remained agriculturally based. 

In the past several decades, Ireland’s economy has modernized and become one of the strongest in Europe, prompting a need for a more educated workforce.

John Flanagan, chair of Atlantic Corridor Ireland and a Tullamore native, stressed the importance of higher education in raising personal incomes.

Mr. Flanagan said that several hundred people in the Midlands have gotten involved in higher education as a result of the Corridor’s programs there and expressed his wish to expand face-to-face exchanges with the United Sates.

“This program that we’re talking about will bring students, also businesspeople, from the U.S. to Ireland, and from Ireland to the U.S., to work out how they can learn from one another,” he said. 

Ties between Ireland and Georgia can facilitate education in both regions, especially with the establishment of Georgia Tech Ireland, an applied research facility founded by the Georgia Institute of Technology in Athlone, County Offaly this year. 

Mr. Garvan said that the Atlantic Corridor hopes to involve Georgia Tech in planning a conference in Ireland next year “to look at how we can encourage young people to study the sciences,” as this area of education has dropped in popularity in Ireland and the United States. 

Gov. Sonny Perdue visited Ireland and met with Prime Minister Bertie Ahern as well as representatives of Georgia Tech Ireland and Irish technology companies. 

In Northern Ireland, Mr. Perdue became the first senior government official from the United States to meet with First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, heads of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which took over local government from the British in March of this year. 

The unity government between Mr. Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party and Mr. McGuinness’ nationalist Sinn Féin, two parties that refused to work with one another for 85 years, is the biggest step in the Irish peace process to date. 

The Irish chamber in Atlanta arranged for the Irish delegation to meet with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle; Irial Finan, an Irish native and executive vice president of Coca-Cola; the Dekalb Chamber of Commerce, Galaxy Partners Inc. real estate firm and Georgia Tech to discuss cooperation between the regions. 

The visit’s itinerary also made time for the delegation to enjoy the city by taking in the Oct. 15 networking event and an Atlanta Thrashers hockey game. 

For more information on Irish-U.S. business contact Mr. Conboy at the Irish chamber in Atlanta, Mr. Garvan in Ireland or Mr. Campbell in Northern Ireland.  Also, see GlobalAtlanta’s special report, “Growing Ties between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Georgia.”