AROUND THE WORLD AUSTRALIA connect 2019 • 106 2 5 8 3 6 1 4 7 November, 2018 The Ireland Funds inaugural Coolmore Garden Party took place at Randwick Racecourse and it was an honor to have the Governor- General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Lynne Cosgrove join us at the begin- ning of the day. The Governor-General acknowledged the strong bond between Ireland and Australia and the important contribution the Irish community has made here. He complimented The Ireland Funds on the invaluable work it does, together with all our supporters, providing hope and educational opportunities to people in need, not only in Ireland but in Australia as well. Chairman Yvonne Le Bas welcomed distinguished guests and was thrilled to announce the larg- est grant round ever this year of over $1.8 million supporting activities such as Soar, Integrated Education, our partnership with Trinity College to provide scholarships in their MBA programme, Australian Indigenous Education Foun- dation and Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute, to name a few. Tom Magnier then took to the stage with our MC Richard Wilkins AM. Tom spoke proudly of the history of Coolmore in Ireland and of his father John Magnier, Vincent O’Brien and Robert Sangster taking over a small agricultural farm in 1975 and creating a world-class thoroughbred stallion operation, now operational in Ire- land, America and Australia. Ciaran Gribbin and his Ireland Rocks Band pro- vided wonderful entertainment, bringing all the guests to their feet. Thank you to everyone who participated in the live auction conducted by the charismatic Chris McKearney of EBM. The auction included Business Class tickets thanks to Tim Harrowell and Emirates, a Toyota Yaris thanks to Patrick Gallagher of Gallagher Hotels, fabulous packages from Coolmore Australia to Melbourne Cup 2019, to their Stud at the Hunter Valley and to Villiers Cup Day thanks to Tom and Sophie Magnier. Having all that fun allowed us to raise over $200,000 profit on the day and we are extremely grateful to every single person that came out to support us at Randwick for this event, in particular our Table Captains and major sponsors. Sydney Garden Party 1 David Kelly, guests 2 Yvonne Le Bas, Teresa Keating 3 Niall Ronan, guest 4 Mike & Debbie O’Donnell, Tim Harrowell 5 Kevin Higgins, Sir Peter Cosgrove, Lady Lynne Cosgrove, Yvonne Le Bas 6 Patrick Gallagher 7 The Governor-General of Australia and supporters of The Ireland Funds Australia 8 Richard Wilkins AM, Tom Magnier Photos: Matt Teague