Charity Dinner 2012

It was really a remarkable Friday in Dublin for the members and friends of The Ireland Fund of Germany.
After a networking lunch, The Ireland Fund of Germany members and friends attended the conference “Ireland, Europe and the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) / Mechanism (ESM) – Situation, Chances, Future” and discussed the highly interesting views and explanations with the prominent speakers, H.E. Dr. Eckhard Lübkemeier, German Ambassador to Ireland; Mr. Werner Schwanberg, Managing Director, WGZ Bank Ireland; and Mr. Rossa White, Chief Economist, National Treasury Management Agency of Ireland. The conference was organized by the “German-Irish Lawyers and Business Association” – a close partner of The Ireland Fund of Germany– in co-operation with the “EU & International Affairs Committee” of the Law Society of Ireland and took place at Blackhall Place, the Irish Law Society`s magnificent headquarters in Dublin.

In the evening H.E. Dr Eckhard Lübkemeier, German Ambassador to Ireland, and his wife Anne hosted, together with the Chairman of The Ireland Fund of Germany, Elmar Conrads-Hassel, and his wife, Dr Ursula Hassel, The Ireland Fund of Germany Charity Dinner 2012 at the German Ambassador`s beautiful residence. Those in attendance enjoyed an excellent speech by Hugo MacNeill, Goldman Sachs` Managing Director and Chairman of The Ireland Fund in Ireland.

During the evening Elmar Conrads-Hassel thanked the German Ambassador and his wife for their magnificent hospitality and support of The Ireland Fund of Germany trip to Dublin. Dr Ursula Hassel, Ireland committee member, presented “An Duas” – The Ireland Fund of Germany’s annual award for outstanding achievements in the fields of Irish Studies in Germany and German Studies in Ireland – to Dr Gisela Holfter, Senior Lecturer in German & Joint Director Centre for Irish-German Studies, University of Limerick (UL) for the new MA in Irish-German Studies.

The new MA is a unique one-year programme harnessing particular strengths in UL while combining with complementary existing MA programmes in Ireland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It aims to attract highly qualified students who will benefit from a strongly interdisciplinary and internationally focussed academic programme and enables them to work and research in international contexts. Students from the German-speaking countries will benefit from UL’s strategic alliance with NUI Galway and study the second semester there before returning to Limerick for their Master’s thesis.

The proceeds of the Charity Dinner 2012 supported Darndale Belcamp Integrated Childcare Services. Darndale Belcamp Integrated Childcare Services is a community center which caters for 267 children in Darndale / Belcamp, a disadvantaged community in north Dublin with high levels of unemployment, low educational attainment and myriad social issues.

This excellent childcare centre is dependent on funding for three key programme areas:

• Maintenance of the Therapeutic Play Skills Project for the most vulnerable children experiencing trauma or developmental delay,
• Investment in the pre-school rooms and the “School Readiness” project and
• Provision of relevant training for staff and parents to build on their skills.