We are honoured to have the following individuals as Patrons of the
European Economic Summit
Former Taoiseach of Ireland, Enda Kenny
Mayo local, Enda Kenny, served as leader of Fine Gael from 2002–2017 and as Taoiseach of Ireland from 2011–2017. Enda Kenny attended the National University of Ireland, Galway, and spent four years working as a teacher. He turned to politics in 1975 following in the footsteps of his father, Henry Kenny who was a long-serving member of Dáil Éireann.
At age 24, Enda Kenny became the youngest member of the Dáil. During his political career he also served as Minister for Tourism and Trade, Minister for Youth Affairs and Minister for Defence. In June 2018, Kenny was named ‘Irish European of the Year’ for his outstanding contribution to promoting and developing Ireland’s place in Europe through some of the most challenging circumstances in our history. This includes navigating the period around the Brexit referendum to also chairing the European Council and developing and promoting our relationship with the European Union. He has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and is a keen supporter of Mayo GAA.
Former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson is Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice in Trinity College Dublin and Chair of The Elders. She served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is a member of the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States Barack Obama. Between 2013 and 2016 Mary served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change and most recently as his Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate. Her Foundation, the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, established in 2010, came to a planned end in April 2019.
A former President of the International Commission of Jurists and former chair of the Council of Women World Leaders she was President and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002-2010 and served as Honorary President of Oxfam International from 2002-2012.
Mary Robinson serves as Patron of the International Science Council and Patron of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business, is an Ambassador for The B Team, in addition to being a board member of several organisations including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the Aurora Foundation. She was Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 to 2019. Mary’s memoir, ‘Everybody Matters’ was published in September 2012 and her book, ‘Climate Justice – Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future’ was published in September 2018.
Former Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley
Martin Joseph O’Malley is an American politician and attorney who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007, and was a councilman from the Third Council District in the northeast section of the city on the Baltimore City Council from 1991 to 1999. O’Malley was also a candidate for president of the United States in 2016.
His father, of Irish descent was a Maryland U.S Attorney and his mother, a receptionist and staffer for Senator Barbara Mikulski, whom he worked for while in college. In 2002, at the age of 39, O’Malley was named “The Best Young Mayor in the Country” by Esquire; and in 2005, TIME magazine named him one of America’s “Top 5 Big City Mayors”.
He often travels to the West of Ireland and the National University of Ireland, Galway awarded him an honorary degree in 2008. He is the incoming Taoiseach of the O’Malley Clan and will be inducted into that position at the O’Malley International Gathering, also being held in June 2022, in Newport, Co. Mayo. Martin is also a musician and has been the front man of the Celtic rock band, O’Malley’s March since 1988.