A woman’s touch

Dennehy’s first job in the States was in off-track betting. In 1990, having gotten a green card, Dennehy took a job as an assistant in the events department of the National Basketball Association. Over the next nine years Dennehy was promoted several times and ultimately became the human resources manager of the NBA’s International Group.
In 1999, Dennehy set up her own sports marketing company, LeadDog Marketing Group, in collaboration with one of her NBA colleagues. In March 2002, she took the job of administrative director at Emerald Isle Immigration Center and became executive director of the organization one year later. Dennehy was no stranger to the organization as she had volunteered with both EIIC and the Irish Immigration Reform Movement in the late 1980s. Many of the concerns facing the EIIC today are the same as those of 15 years ago when Dennehy arrived in the U.S. She can certainly identify with the undocumented who frequent the center and also offer them hope as she recently became a U.S. citizen.
And what became of the handsome stranger? She married him. Husband Dan is now the proud father of their daughters Aisling and Cara.

Tracey Ferguson
President
TFK Productions
Tracey Ferguson is the eldest of four children in a Gort, Co. Galway, family. After completing a BA degree at University College Cork, she came to the United States 10 years ago to pursue a career in acting. Although Ferguson had been tramping the boards since the age of 8, she found the opportunities in the pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland limited.
For six years, Ferguson had various acting jobs, including appearing with Michael Moore on his television series, “TV Nation”. Gradually she became more involved in production and in 2000 she set up her own company, TFK Productions. One of the first events she produced was the Irish Comedy Festival in New York and Boston, which starred many top Irish comics, including Ardal O’Hanlon of “Father Ted” fame, Tommy Tiernan and Jason Byrne. The following year TFK Productions debuted Tommy Tiernan’s first solo U.S. show at Cap 21 Theatre.
Ferguson’s production skills haven’t been limited to the United States. In 2002 she headed to Cape Town, South Africa, to organize an event in honor of President Nelson Mandela, which was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. Upon her return she turned her attentions to the world of broadcasting and organized the launch of a nationwide radio station for Infinity Broadcasting.
Ferguson is currently producing for television, and recently became engaged to her long-time boyfriend, Gary Naughton.

Aine Sheridan
executive vice president
Flannelly Promotions Ltd.
Longford woman Aine Sheridan had a “good pensionable job” in the civil service when she was offered a chance to take a year’s sabbatical in 1984. She jumped at the chance to come to New York, where two of her eight siblings were living. Sheridan’s first job in the states was with Tintawn Carpets, a sister company of Curragh Carpets in Ireland. As a marketing professional for the company, she spent the next eight years traveling extensively throughout the United States and Canada.
In 1992, Sheridan joined Flannelly Promotions, a full-service promotions agency and sister company of Irish Radio, where she is now executive producer of “The Adrian Flannelly Show.” As executive vice president of Flannelly Promotions, she has helped develop the pubic relations consultancy division of the organization. The Irish community in the United States has many media outlets and Sheridan sees the role of Irish radio as not only informing their constituents but actively advocating on their behalf.

Pauline Turley
executive director
Irish Arts Center
When Pauline Turley was working on the Jersey Shore on a J1 visa in 1993, she decided to pay a visit to New York. Her first impression of the Big Apple was that no one in their right mind would actually live here. Four years later, in January 1997, two years after getting her green card, Turley came to New York for six months. Originally from Saval, a small parish near Newry, Co. Down, she graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a degree in theater studies and wanted to get some experience before seeking a job in Dublin.
Two months later, she began volunteering in the Irish Arts Center while working as a nanny to pay the bills. After nine months she was asked to come on board full-time and, after the departure of Nye Heron, took over as executive director. The IAC is recognized by many as a theater but also showcases Irish art in the two galleries and provides classes in Irish language and Irish dance. As executive director, Turley’s prime concern is funding and she spends a great deal of her time promoting the various activities of the center. She defines her role as making the artistic inheritance of Ireland available to as many different cultures as possible.

Siobhan Walsh
executive director
Concern Worldwide USA
In the high-burnout world of non-profits, Siobhan Walsh must hold some sort of record. When she first started work for Concern, the international aid agency, she planned on staying for two years — that was 14 years ago. Not only is the length of Walsh’s tenure unusual, but so is the fact that she’s still, she said recently, “as energized and motivated by the work, the people and the needs as I was the first day I walked into the Concern Office.”
Originally from County Limerick, Walsh holds a degree in French and economics from University College Cork and has two postgraduate diplomas, one in international marketing. It was while she was studying for her second post-grad, in social/economic policy and community development, at Maynooth College, Co. Kildare, that she first became involved with Concern, as a volunteer.
Walsh first came to the United States in 1994 when she transferred from the organization’s headquarters in Dublin. Two years later, she became the executive director of the U.S. operation.
Founded in Ireland in 1968, Concern is a non-denominational humanitarian organization dedicated to the relief, assistance and advancement of the poorest people in the developing world. During her time with the organization, Walsh’s work has taken her to Uganda, Rwanda, Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Burundi, Liberia, Somalia and Kenya.