Consulate General of Ireland, San Francisco

Welcome to St. Patrick's season ☘️🇮🇪🍀 A message from Consul General Micheál Smith.

Ireland and the United States share a deep, mutually beneficial bond strengthened by investment and innovation. Ireland not only serves as a gateway to the EU for U.S. businesses but is also a key American investor, driving job creation and supporting local economies in all 50 states. Together, we’re building a future of shared prosperity and opportunity. Watch our video – we think you’ll like the soundtrack too! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ecn8mDuH

Thank you to Mayor Daniel Lurie 丹尼爾·羅偉 for inviting the Irish community to San Francisco City Hall to kick off the St. Patrick's Day season by declaring March to be Irish American Friendship & Heritage Month in San Francisco.   We were delighted to be joined for this occasion by Lord Mayor of Cork Dan Boyle, a delegation of visitors from Cork City, and representatives of the San Francisco - Cork Sister City Committee. We continue to be incredibly proud of the strength of the sister city relationship between these two amazing cities.   Consul General Micheál Smith spoke about Ireland's commitment to partnering closely with new administrations across the United States, in particular, the commitment of this Consulate to work with Mayor Lurie's new administration in San Francisco. He spoke to the broad economic cooperation between our two countries, including the fact that Ireland is the 6th largest foreign source of investments in the United States.   Thank you to former San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White for ably serving as master of ceremonies for the event and to the UNITED IRISH SOCIETIES for giving us a preview of this year's St. Patrick's Day parade.   Attendees were treated to performances from the San Francisco Irish Piper's Band, Celtic Voices Choir, and Murphy School of Dance.

Before we enter St. Patrick's Day season, we wanted to take a quick look back on our Lunar New Year celebrations. We were thrilled to participate in a variety of Chinese New Year celebrations this year including marching in San Francisco's annual Chinese New Year Parade. We were delighted to welcome members of the Bay Area's Irish and Chinese communities to Ireland's residence in San Francisco for a reception celebrating the Lunar New Year and the historic ties between the two communities. Consul General Micheál Smith was delighted to welcome Tara Wong-Nash, 2024 Miss China Town USA and the first woman with both Chinese and Irish heritage to win this title. Tara performed alongside Vice Consul Jennifer Chadwick during the event. Danny Chao performed spirited traditional music on the Erhu, a two-stringed Chinese instrument. He and Irish musician Cormac Gannon improvised a set fusing Irish and Chinese musical traditions. Consul General Smith and his family were delighted to visit Chinatown for San Francisco's annual Chinese New Year Parade and participate in the festivities from the viewing stand. As we look forward to this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade, we look forward to seeing a contingent marching in the parade representing Friends of the Laurel Tie, a group that brings together this city's Irish and Chinese communities in the bonds on friendship and shared history. Thank you to all who attended! Happy year of the snake!

A delegation from across Irish government departments visited the San Francisco Bay Area to engage with companies, thought leaders, innovation investors and academics, on exponential technological development and convergence. The group explored cutting-edge advancements and sought to assess how emerging technologies could potentially impact our society and economy across sectors such as healthcare, education, research, transport/infrastructure, media, cybersecurity and more. The visit included engagements with world-leading tech businesses in Silicon Valley and San Francisco and presented an opportunity for dialogue on emerging technologies and the public sector etc. The delegation also met with legislators from the California Legislature, the leadership of the California Government Operations Agency, and NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Meetings at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, University of California, Davis and University of California, Berkeley gave the delegation insight into the views on the spectrum of academic thinking about the rapid pace of technological development. Thank you to all those who made this such a valuable week for Ireland including at Autodesk, Cisco, Google, IBM, Meta, NVIDIA, Salesforce, SVG Ventures | THRIVE, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, and IDA Ireland.

Last week, we celebrated St. Brigid's Day with a reception at the official residence of Consul General Micheál Smith in honour of our 2025 St. Brigid's Day Awardee Celine Kennelly, Executive Director of the San Francisco Irish Immigration Pastoral Center (IIPC), a non-profit organization assisting Irish immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area and far beyond. IIPC provides advice, information, advocacy, referral and support, and assistance with housing, jobs, immigration, social services and family issues. Celine represents so many of the values that we spotlight during St. Brigid's day through her commitment to community building, social welfare, and pastoral care. Thank you to all who came to celebrate St. Brigid's Day with us! Congratulations to the wonderful Celine for this well-deserved recognition!