Larry Farrell, Terri Scott, Danuta Gray, Eleanor McEvoy, Steve Castree and Anton Savage at the ‘Global Prospects for Irish Talent’ event, chaired by broadcaster Anton Savage, featuring contributions from international CEOs as part of Enterprise & Innovation Week at IT Sligo, yesterday. Photo: James Connolly / PicSell8

A STRONG message of hope was expressed by the international CEOs that addressed an event on Global Prospects for Irish Talent at IT Sligo’s Enterprise & Innovation Week.

The key note event was chaired by author and broadcaster Anton Savage and featured contributions from Danuta Gray (Non Executive Chairman of O2 Telefonica Ireland), Stephen Castree (CEO of Equinoxe AIS) and Larry Farrell (Chairman of the The Farrell Company and former Vice President of American Express).

More than 200 people attended the event in the Hume Hall at IT Sligo, including a wide range of representatives from the regional and national business community.

Danuta Gray pointed to the important relationship between academia and industry; “Ireland must continue to produce graduates that are fit for purpose, and that can meet the demands of the changing economy. Everyone must continue work together to harness and support entrepreneurship and innovation,” she said.

Non Executive Chairman of one of the world’s leading telecom companies with 220,000 employees in more than 27 countries, Ms Gray said that that Ireland’s young dynamic workforce is recognised for its ‘can do’ approach and that this is an attractive factor for companies who are investigating location options.

Stephen Castree is CEO of Equinoxe AIS, a US financial services company that recently opened at base in IT Sligo’s Innovation Centre. He offered some useful advice to students emerging from third level education; “Perspective and attitude are everything, everyone is in charge of their own career. Opportunity may not be what you expect it to be but you have to go out and grab it.

Danuta Gray, advisor of Telefonica 02 Europe Plc.