Noel Kilkenny, Consul General of Ireland in New York, hosted a breakfast on Wednesday at his residence to launch the Irish Technology Leadership Group New York chapter.

ITLG Chairman and former Chairman of Intel, Dr. Craig Barrett and ITLG Founder and President John Hartnett as well as other East Coast Irish and Irish-American senior executives were present.

The opening of the New York Chapter of the Irish Technology Leadership Group is a major milestone in the organization’s ongoing commitment to promote the technology connection between Ireland and Silicon Valley, and to help Ireland address the challenges of embracing new technology opportunities and continues the momentum of the program’s expansion since its inception in 2007.

Over the past year, ITLG has provided mentorship, support and investment for many Irish startup companies, grown its business Diaspora network to over 2,000 members globally and facilitated inward investment by U.S. multinational companies to Ireland to mutually benefit the economies of Ireland and the United States.

“While we are extremely proud to be headquartered in Silicon Valley, the epicenter of the technology industry and home to some of the world’s largest corporations like Intel, Cisco, Apple and Google, it’s also important for us to have a presence on the East Coast in New York and other technology hubs including Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago and Atlanta,” said John Hartnett. “The ITLG has gained a significant amount of traction here in Silicon Valley, and the more chapters we can open, the more support we can provide to growing Irish companies.”

Established in 2007, the ITLG is a group of executives and technology leaders in Silicon Valley who are Irish or Irish-American, each of whom are committed to helping Irish start-up companies.

For more information about the ITLG, visit www.itlg.org