The Ireland Canada Connection

Sachin Aggarwal is CEO of Think Research – a Canadian technology company that is helping to shape the future of healthcare through digital. Sachin paints a fascinating picture of how healthcare will be delivered in the future as a result of digital tools that can help reduce the work load and the mental load of health practitioners, allowing them to concentrate on the patient. He also talks about why Think Research has established a presence in Ireland and how that experience is working out...

Cybercrime is one of the top concerns for business leaders in 2022. Remote working, the rise and rise of digital commerce, and increased sophistication among cybercriminals are all fuelling a remarkable rise in cyber threats, predominantly ‘ransomware’ and ‘phishing’. In this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection, host Patrick Haughey meets Ciaran Luttrell, Director of Operations at e-Sentire - a global cybersecurity services company headquartered in Ontario, Canada and with a European...

Building a happy, healthy and highly engaged workforce is one of the key priorities for modern business leaders. Success in this area leads to success in talent acquisition and retention, and also customer and client experience. In this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection, host Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand is joined by: - Miriam Manning, Director of Human Resources at TELUS International Ireland. Headquartered in Canada, and with 50,000 team members globally, around 2000 of those...

In the mid 1800s, a 3000-mile long cable was laid across the Atlantic Ocean connecting Valentia in Co Kerry with Hearts Content in Newfoundland. It was described at the time as “a triumph of science and energy over time and space” and it completely revolutionised the communications of the day, bringing Europe and North America much closer together and thereby enhancing trade, diplomacy, culture and so much more. In this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection, host Patrick Haughey meets...

Pharmapod is an Irish software company that has developed a cloud-based platform to reduce medication errors for patients. In recent years, the company expanded into Canada and has been rapidly growing there ever since. In this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection, Anne Keogh, CFO of Pharmapod, tells host Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand, the remarkable story of the company’s growth across Canada, what she has learned about succeeding in that market, the role that CETA has played in...

Greenfield Global, a large and successful Canadian company, chose Ireland as the location for its very first base outside of North America. In 2020 Greenfield opened its 3,8000 sq meter facility in Co Laois, Ireland, and has very ambitious plans to grow its presence in the country. Ken Finnegan, MD of Greenfield Global Ireland, has been leading the companies establishment and expansion since it established in Ireland, and all the way through the Covid pandemic. In this episode of The...

The Business Council of Canada is one of Canada’s most influential business representative organisations. It represents the chief executives and heads of 150 leading Canadian businesses, employing 1.7 million Canadians and composed of every major industry across the country. Goldy Hyder, the Council’s President and CEO, has a fascinating track record in business, public policy, and in the not for profit sector. He has such informed and passionate opinions about effective leadership,...

Eamonn McKee has become Ireland’s new Ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and The Bahamas. He previously held ambassadorial positions in Seoul and Israel and has spent the last 5 years as Director General of the Trade division at the Dept of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador McKee is also an avid reader of history and indeed loves writing about the subject too, which gives him a very interesting perspective on some of the biggest challenges that the world is facing right now. In this episode of The...

Joe Aherne founded the Leading Edge Group in 1995 in Cobh, Co Cork, and in 2009, decided it was time to internationalise. Joe chose Toronto, Canada as Leading Edge's first location outside of Ireland. In this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection, Joe tells Patrick Haughey all about the experience and what he learned from it, including: Why he chose Canada over other countries on the list of potential locations The first steps he took – what worked and what he would do differently His...

RxSource had planned to set up its EU base in the UK, but Brexit led the company to choose Ireland instead. RxSource, a global pharmaceutical wholesale distributor from Canada, set up operations in Ireland in 2016 and has been growing steadily since. Our guest on this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection is Sue Kelly, the company’s Director of Operations. Sue speaks about: +Why Brexit led RxSource to choose Ireland over the UK +What it has been like operating in Ireland and lessons...

As a North American company, what is the key to successfully starting and growing operations in Ireland? Our guest on this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection is Kevin Elliott, Senior Vice President at Bank of Ireland Corporate and Treasury. In his current role, and previously with the IDA, Kevin has helped many companies from Canada and the US to establish operations and grow in Ireland. In this podcast, we tap into his extensive experience in this area and talk about: +The most...

Former Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin Vickers, is our special guest on this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection. Always a great friend to the ICBA and supporter of the Association’s work, Kevin left his post in Ireland in 2019 to become leader of the Liberal Party of New Brunswick in Canada. In this interview Kevin talks about his time as Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, why he believes connectivity and relationship building are key to economic success, the great opportunities in...

Nikolay Malyarov is CEO of PressReader International and also its Chief Content Officer. Press reader is a Canadian company, a valued member of the ICBA, and a multinational with operations in Ireland. In this episode of The Ireland Canada Connection, Nikolay talks about how PressReader has been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, how it has reacted, and he shared his advice for other companies about how to turn a challenge into an opportunity. Nikolay also talks about the future of news and...

Ireland and Canada are two countries with incredibly close ties – for over a century and a half the Irish have been making Canada their home, and today, almost 15% of the Canadian population claim Irish ancestry. And more recently, there’s been a wave of emigration from Canada into Ireland – this time in the form of multinational Canadian companies making Ireland the center point of their European and EMEA operations. Our shared history, culture and approach to business has seen the...