February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The 1999 American Celtic ball, to be held on Thursday, Oct. 14, at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, will honor the 11th anniversary of the founding of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.
The trio being honored this year year consist of John Sharkey, recently retired as vice president of MCI World Telecommunications; John T. Dillon, chairman-CEO of International Paper Company, and Bernie Cahill, chairman of Aer Lingus.
Cahill, chairman of Aer Lingus, was reappointed to that post in 1996, having begun his association with the organization in 1991.
He is currently chairman of Greencore Group plc and Irish Food Processors and serves as a director of Murphy Brewery Ireland Limited, a division of Heineken N.V.
Born on Bere Island in West Cork, Cahill received a degree in dairy science from University College Cork, following secondary education at Rockwell College in Tipperary and Blackrock College in Dublin.
He began his business career with Express Dairy Company in the United Kingdom, becoming chairman-CEO of Express Foods Group Ireland in 1992. He also served as a director of Bord Bainne (the Irish Milk Board) for 15 years. He was appointed chairman of Irish Sugar Company in 1985, and was re-elected to that position four years later.
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Dillon, chairman-CEO of International Paper Company, joined the firm in 1965 and has spent his entire business career with that company. He held a number of key executive positions in his three decades with IP, becoming chief executive in 1966.
He hold a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, having received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Hartford.
Dillon fills a variety of important offices for public and private organizations, including vice chairman of the American Forest & Paper Association; is a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Trade Policy and Negotiations and is a member of the Business Council.
Sharkey, retired from MCI WorldCom after 13 years with that global telecommunications organization, and is now chairman-CEO of Kent, Sanders and Smart, a New York-based commerce and technology advisory company.
Long active in ICCUSA, he has served as chairman of the ACB Journal committee on several occasions. Recently, University College Dublin announced the creation of Ireland’s first chair in electronic commerce, named in Sharkey’s honor.
A member of the board of the Smurfit School of Business at UCD, Sharkey has stated that e-commerce has a special significance for Ireland, since it enables businesses to take advantage of that nation’s position as the gateway to the huge European market.
A native New Yorker, Sharkey majored in marketing management at Iona College and at the Management Institute of New York University. He continued his education at the London Business School, Harvard Business School and at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business.
Dr. Michael W.J. Smurfit is serving as the chairman of the 1999 American Celtic Ball. John Kelly, president-CEO of Willis Corroon of New York, is chairman of the ACB dinner journal committee.