AUSTRALIA AROUND THE WORLD connect 2018 • 97 August, 2017 The Ireland Funds Brisbane Luncheon celebra- tions began early as guests were welcomed by the St. Peter’s Indigenous Dance Group. Chairman Yvonne Le Bas officially opened the lunch at Hillstone St Lucia, welcoming guests and informing them about another successful year of fundraising in Australia. Keynote speaker and Chairman of The Star Entertainment Group John O’Neill AO provided a fascinating insight into Star’s landmark project in Brisbane as well as rugby in Australia. The former Ireland Funds Australia Chairman reminisced about his 14-year involvement with The Ireland Funds. La Forza ensured the crowd were singing their way into the af- ternoon and the live auction was expertly run by Kelvin Deasy of Slattery Auctions. Thank you to our major sponsors: Emirates represented by Leonie Brennan, Australian Radio Network and Ciaran Davis, Charles Curran AC and Capital Investment Group, The Star Entertainment Group and John O’Neill AO, Dia- geo and Paul O’Brien. The afternoon provided an opportunity for guests to pledge to ‘Integrate My School’ a campaign run by the Integrated Education Fund, an initiative led by Northern Ireland Actor Liam Neeson. Young Leaders Catherine Murphy from the Melbourne Committee and Jude Bolger spoke of the upcoming Ireland Funds’ Global 5k Run and encouraged all at- tendees to show their support by registering to run/walk. 30th Anniversary Brisbane Luncheon 1 4 7 2 5 8 3 6 1 Jan Jeffrey, Peter Ryan, Patrick Ryan 2 Teresa Keating, Mia Strasek-Barker, Gerri Binns 3 Toni Ryan, Donna O’Reilly, John O’Neill AO, Sallyanne Atkinson AO 4 Yvonne Le Bas 5 Catherine Murphy 6 St Peters Lutheran Dance Group 7 Anthony Travers, Valerie Simons, Adam Bird 8 La Forza Photos: Amy Elizabeth Photography