Managing the Brexit Challenge: Ireland, the EU, and Transatlantic Relationships

Ireland has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years from a conservative, economically under-performing country to a progressive, open society that is the fastest-growing economy in Europe. Ireland is a country with great optimism for the future, but is also facing serious challenges in particular the impact of the UK’s decision to depart the EU – due to take place on 29 March – and the potential ramifications for the Irish economy, the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that ended a thirty year conflict on the island of Ireland, the EU and the transatlantic relationship. Join the World Affairs Council and Ciarán Cannon, Ireland’s Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, for a discussion on these issues on March 18th. John Galligan, Senior Director, Global Government Affairs at Microsoft will moderate the conversation.

About the Speaker
Ciarán Cannon is Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for the Diaspora and International Development. He is a TD representing Galway East. Ciarán is formerly the Minister for Training & Skills at the Department of Education & Skills. He was first elected to Dáil Eireann in February 2011.

Ciarán was elected to Galway County Council in June 2004, to represent the Loughrea Electoral Area. Following the 2007 General Election An Taoiseach nominated him to Seanad Eireann. Ciarán is also a strong advocate of the use of technology in education and is the founder of Excited - The Digital Learning Movement. He worked closely with teachers and industry leaders to make the case for the introduction of computer science as a subject in Irish schools. Ciarán was born in Kiltullagh, Athenry and he lives there with his wife Niamh and son Evan.

About the Moderator

John Galligan leads Microsoft’s Global Government Affairs team, which is responsible for supporting the company's international network of corporate affairs professionals and their work in advocating Microsoft's public policy agenda to governments and industry stakeholders. His team are responsible for developing and deploying company-wide policy campaigns, facilitating policy escalation and response processes and fostering the professional development for the government affairs community in Microsoft.

From 2009-2015, John was the Regional Director for Government Relations for Microsoft in Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, John helped coordinate Microsoft’s cloud computing policy agenda across the region, focusing on issues ranging from data protection, trade, security, and national competitiveness. Prior to that role, John was Director for Corporate Affairs & Citizenship for Microsoft in Australia, where he had responsibility for government and industry engagement, community affairs and the Company’s corporate citizenship strategy.

Before joining Microsoft in 2006, John worked in corporate affairs in the private sector and served as a policy and political adviser in federal politics, including head of Media and Communications for the Liberal Party of Australia.

John holds bachelor degrees in Business Communication from the Queensland University of Technology and Political Science from Australian National University. He is a former founding director of the Asia Cloud Computing Association and International Institute of Communications (Asia) and current board member of the Public Affairs Council and the US-ASEAN Business Council. John lives with his husband in Seattle.