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FORMER TAOISEACH LEO Varadkar will be the keynote speaker at a pro-unity event in Philadelphia in April.
The Ireland’s Future gala dinner will take place on Thursday, 10 April in the Union League building in Philadelphia and around 500 people will be in attendance.
Ireland’s Future is an organisation that aims to promote the “shared responsibility of delivering constitutional change within the framework of the Good Friday Agreement”.
It has held events across the island of Ireland and the US and the organisation’s secretary Niall Murphy said he is “delighted to confirm that Leo Varadkar will be our primary, keynote speaker at a dinner we are organising in Philadelphia”.
Murphy said there is “significant interest and excitement across Irish America in the period building up to the announcement of a border poll”.
He added that Ireland’s Future has been “working hard with key figures from across Irish America and the new American administration allows us a chance to put our position in front of new faces and willing listeners”.
“We are delighted that we have developed relationships on a bipartisan basis and that whether they are Democrats or Republicans, those with an interest in Ireland’s Future are willing to assist and advance our work,” said Murphy.
Varadkar previously delivered an address to an Ireland’s Future event in Dublin’s 3Arena in October 2022, which also featured Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
He also spoke at an Ireland’s Future event in Belfast SSE Arena last summer.
Meanwhile, it was also announced last week that Varadkar is to be a guest lecturer on public leadership as part of his new role as ‘Hauser Leader’ at the university’s Kennedy School Centre.
The Harvard website outlines that Hauser Leaders spend their time on campus advising students and engaging with faculty throughout the academic year.
Other recipients of the title include former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Maria Ressa and Tawakkol Karman, and Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
In his role at the prestigious university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Varadkar will share his leadership experience with students, faculty, and the broader Kennedy School community through guest lecturing, student mentorship, and discussions focused on public leadership, healthcare policy, and international diplomacy.
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