February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Harry Keaney
Nua, the Dublin-based internet consultancy group, has appointed American Raymond R. Koch of Mendham, N.J., as its chief operating officer. Nua described the appointment as "coupling European expertise with U.S. know-how."
Koch spent the last 10 years as Datatec Systems’ president and COO. Koch brings to Nua a global approach to branding, information technology and operational expansion, according to a statement from Nua.
"Mr. Koch brings to Nua a U.S. perspective that is both insightful and instrumental to our growth," said Gerry McGovern, Nua’s founder and CEO.
Among Nua’s clients are Lucent Technologies, Thomas Publishing, Proctor & Gamble and Andersen Consulting.
Nua comes from the Irish word for "new." Its website is at www.nua.ie.
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IBO news
The Irish Business Organization of New York will hold a downtown networking dinner on May 16 at 6 p.m. in Beckett’s Restaurant, 78 Pearl St., between Broad Street and Hanover Square, in Manhattan. Details, call Dan Comiskey at (212) 571-9695. A midtown networking breakfast will take place May 23 at 8 a.m. in Mezze Restaurant, 44th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues. Details, call Bill Buckley at (212) 627-2111.
The IBO will hold its annual golf outing on June 15 at New Jersey National Golf Club. For details on the course, log onto www.njngolfclub.com. The cost is $150 per person and this includes lunch, golf, golf cart, range balls, prizes and dinner. Lunch and registration will start at 11 a.m. Volunteers are needed.
Details, call 1-877-IBO-3200.
Networking Society in Boston
Former mayor of Boston and U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Ray Flynn will be the guest speaker at the Irish Networking Society’s May meeting on Wednesday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m. in the FleetBoston Building, 100 Federal Street, 35th Floor. Admission, $10.00 for non-members and $5.00 for members. Coffee, tea and refreshments will be available Afterwards, at Tiernan’s on Broad Street, there will be some follow-up networking.
For more information, visit the society’s web site at www.celticweb.com/ins or call: (781) 446-8074.
Rosy first quarter
First quarter earnings for Irish pharmaceuticals company Elan rose 30 percent to a record $97.2 million. Quarterly revenue rose 24 percent to $290 million.
Chairman Donal Geaney noted that the quarter was marked by the signing of a collaboration deal with American Home Products on an Alzheimer’s vaccine program, as well as marketing approval for Elan’s Zonegran anti-epilepsy drug and the $575 million takeover of Atlanta-based Liposome.
New boss at Fruit of the Loom
Fruit of the Loom has named its acting new chief executive, Dennis S. Bookshester, to the top job. Bookshester joined the apparel company eight months ago as acting chief executive. He was formerly chief executive Carson Pirie Scott & Company and the Zale Corporation.
Last December, Fruit of the Loom, which has had extensive operations in Ireland, mainly in Donegal and Derry, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It is also in dispute with its previous chief executive, William Farley, over a $65 million debt. Fruit of the Loom is trying to seize assets from Farley but a bankruptcy judge, Peter Walsh, has denied Fruit of the Loom’s request on three occasions. A fourth hearing is to take place on June 8.
Tully not tiring
Dan Tully, the former chairman and chief executive officer of financial powerhouse Merrill Lynch, is certainly not taking it easy in his retirement years. In Stamford, Conn., where Tully lives, he is leading a $100 million five-year fund-raising campaign for Stamford Hospital.
"This campaign will help us build a health organization unlike any other in the country," said Tully, board president of the Stamford Health Foundation, the fund-raising arm of Stamford Health System, Stamford Hospital’s corporate parent.
Already, 13 families have contributed a combined $35 million to the campaign.
A $61.5 million, 225,000-square-foot building under construction at the former St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stamford, will be named for Tully, his wife, Grace, and their family, who contributed $10 million.
Smurfit-Stone report
Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, which is traded on the Nasdaq under SSCC, has reported income from continuing operations of $40 million. Sales for the quarter were $1.9 billion compared to $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 1999.
Fiery after hours
In County Mayo last weekend, two pubs with the same name were destroyed by fire at about the same time. Dicey Reilly’s in Newport and Dicey Reilly’s in Ballyvary were burned almost to the ground between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Both pubs were leased by Pádraig Reilly, from Belmullet, Co. Mayo. No one was injured in the blazes.
Gárdaí are treating the blazes as suspicious.