Health & Fitness
General Consul for Ireland visits Oconee Rotary Club
General Consul shares with Rotary his expectations for economic growth in the Southeast.
On Tuesday, the Rotary Club of Oconee County welcomed Paul Gleeson, the General Consul for the new Irish Consulate General in Atlanta. Mr. Gleeson has been in Atlanta since the summer of 2010, where he was charged with opening the first new consulate opened by Ireland in the United States since the San Francisco office was established in 1933. The Atlanta Consulate formally opened in February of 2011, joining sixty-four other national consulates which have established presences in Atlanta.
Mr. Gleeson explained the reasons behind the decision to expand its presence in the United States and to further strengthen its ties in the Southeast, citing the existing trade relationships between the two places through companies such as Delta, Coca-Cola and UPS. He spoke of the future of Georgia as a hub for economic growth in the Southeast, and affirmed Ireland's desire to continue to build trading relationships with the Southeast into the future. Both territories are developing international reputations for leading the way in software and technology innovation, and Irish software companies are coming to appreciate the benefits of establishing themselves in the Southeast.
The new Consulate provides an important and long-awaited focal point for a thriving Irish community in the Southeast. Mr. Gleeson spoke of the strong historical ties between Ireland and the Southeast, covering the Scots-Irish settlers who first populated the Appalachians, and the Catholic Irish who later settled in Savannah and throughout Georgia, many of whom escaped the Irish Potato Famine and political oppression, only to volunteer their lives in the Civil War.
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The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, through its U.S. consulates and their leaders, promotes not only trade, but Irish tourism and education by inviting Americans to visit the beautiful country, whether to trace their ancestry, obtain a competitively-priced degree from a distinguished university, or simply to play golf on some of the finest courses in the world.
The Irish Consulate is located at 3414 Peachtree Road, Atlanta.