On Wednesday, two hundred honorees and guests attended the Echo’s second annual Golden Bridges Awards gathering at the John F. Kennedy Library.
And on Thursday, the paper hosted Northern Ireland’s employment and learning minister Sir Reg Empey to a breakfast in his honor.
Empey had been invited to the Golden Bridges lunch but was unable to make it to Boston until the following day. While in the city, Empey also delivered the keynote address at an Irish American Partnership event as part of an ongoing transatlantic effort to spur education links between Northern Ireland and the Bay State.
Eleven Golden Bridges Awards were presented to ten individuals and one company, Philips Healthcare, at a luncheon attended by some of the leading business and political figures in the Boston area.
The award winners were Marty Meehan, former congressman and now chancellor of Umass Lowell; Irish language activist Peggy Cloherty; Louise O’Shea of the Irish Cultural Centre of New England and ICONS festival; Joe Leary of the Irish American Partnership; Jim O’Brien of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce USA New England; Boston Irish Reporter publisher Ed Forry; Ken Casey of the band Dropkick Murphys; Dr. Anne Donnellon of Babson College; Tim Cahill, Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; developer John Hynes III, and John Hamilton, who accepted on behalf of Philips Healthcare.
The awards were first held last year in New York City.
“We were delighted with the turnout and the enthusiasm for Golden Bridges in Boston. It was a fantastic event in a wonderful setting,” said Echo publisher M_irt