The INCO Annual General Meeting took place on October 26th via a Zoom meeting. Alan Groarke was voted in as President to fill the seat of the outgoing President, Lisa Switzer. Tess Julian was voted in as Vice President in place of Alan Groarke. Dermot Healy remains as Treasurer and Cathy Welch remains in her role as Secretary. All existing Board Members, other than Brian Reilly and Don Murray remain intact for another year. Brian asked to vacate the role due to schedule conflicts.
We welcomed two new board members into the organization, Patrick Miller, owner of the popular “Talnua Distillery” in Denver. Patrick is excited to play a more impactful role in the promotion of INCO thru his network of the Irish whiskey community. Luke Finken, a teacher in Leadville has been very instrumental in the construction of the Irish Immigrant Miners’ Memorial in Leadville.
A large portion of the agenda was focused on the Irish Immigrant Miners’ Memorial as there are several exciting new developments to discuss. A significant development is the fact that INCO was awarded a second grant of $50,000 by the Irish government. This grant is a recognition of the work being done by INCO and the importance of the project to the Emigrant Support Program in Ireland. An outline of the project progress will be detailed in future newsletters and on our website: www.irishnetworkco.com
A schedule of Zoom events is being planned for the next four months. Some of those events will include significant stories in Irish history e.g., The Famine Girls, Irish Women in history, the connection between the Beara peninsula in Ireland and Leadville, CO. Other more festive and lighthearted events will be held around the holiday season so please stay tuned!
