b'spring / summerConnect2 0 1 4Dear Friends,It is with great pleasure that I pen my first message to you as the newly elected Chairman of The American Ireland Fund. I am very grateful to my fellow directors for the opportunity they have givenme to lead this great organisation.I am humbled also by the fact that I am following in the enormousfootsteps of Loretta Brennan Glucksman. Over the last 18 years, she has transformed the impact andimportance of The American Ireland Fund. She has done so with such grace and generosity. I am deeplygrateful to her that she will continue to serve as Chairman Emeritus and for all of the support that shewill give me in my new role. I look forward also to working with our great team led by our President &CEO and my friend Kieran McLoughlin. He and the team deliver great results with great passion, impactand efficiency.My objective is simple. As Ireland recovers, I wish to maintain our course and maximise theamount of return to Ireland at a time when it is so crucial. With resources under such pressure acrossIreland it is so important that we deliver as much private philanthropic support as we can. I wouldurge you to read, through the pages of this magazine, the impact that your work has, life by life, allacross Ireland.It is this that inspired me to become involved with the Fund over a decade ago. Since then I havetaken great pride in the work that you and your fellow supporters have generated across Ireland. I amparticularly proud that the Promising Ireland Campaign is exceeding all expectations and we are ontrack to reaching twice its original goal and our new target of $200 million.I want to thank you for this extraordinary momentum. I look forward to working with you overthe next three years and to fulfilling the vision that our founders Tony OReilly and Dan Rooney setout for us over almost four decades ago.Again, I am privileged to be your Chairman.Kind regards,John FitzpatrickChairmanThe American Ireland Fundconnect2014 | 3'