About this Event
An evening of discussion that will explore the different identities, cultures, and traditions that make up modern society on the island of Ireland and how relationships on the island have evolved under the Good Friday Agreement.
Part of the Irish Government’s Shared Home Place (SHP) initiative, this event aims to bring together people from all traditions and backgrounds, both from across the island and in the diaspora, to discuss how perceptions of the island of Ireland as it is now and what this means for their connection to the heritage, culture and tradition in a Shared Home Place.
The evening will feature a keynote address from East Belfast-based writer Jan Carson followed by a panel discussion with Sean Gaffey, Chairman of Co-operation Ireland USA, Deirdre Lewis, Director and Visual Artist, and Larry McCarthy, President of the GAA 2021-2024 moderated by Rachel Quigley, Managing Editor of Underscored, CNN.
Speaker
Jan Carson is a Belfast-based writer who has published four novels, three short story collections and three micro-fiction collections. Her novel The Fire Starters won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland, 2019. The Raptures was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year and Kerry Group Novel of the Year. Jan was the Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast in 2025, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has achieved the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. Her most recent novel, Few and Far Between (Doubleday UK and Scribner US) and micro-fiction collection, No Vacancy (No Alibis Press), were both published in 2026.
Sean Gaffey is Chairman of Co-operation Ireland USA and sits on the overarching board of Co-operation Ireland. A New York financial executive and Co-Founder of the Gaffey Mellody Savoie Group at Merrill Lynch, he has spent over two decades building trans-Atlantic civic, philanthropic, and economic bridges. Sean participated in an official U.S. State Department trade mission to Northern Ireland and separately led an executive trade mission under the banner of the Irish International Business Network (IIBN), where he served as Chairman. He also previously served on the board of the Children’s Medical Research Foundation (CMRF), is a mentor with the U.S.-Northern Ireland Mentorship Program, and is an honoree of Irish America magazine’s "Wall Street 50" and "Business 100." With all four grandparents immigrating from Galway and Tipperary, Sean’s work focuses on cross-border reconciliation, youth leadership and how modern Ireland is navigating rapid demographic change, moving beyond traditional binary identities toward a multicultural future. He is a graduate of the University of Scranton and lives in Rockville Centre, New York, with his wife, Alison, and their two sons.
Deirdre Lewis is a Black Irish visual artist whose work primarily focuses on photography and film making. Born in Athens, Greece, raised in Derry, and now based in New York, her diverse upbringing and multicultural background profoundly shape her creative practice. Her lens captures the intersections of identity and self-expression, where beauty is found not only in the visual but also in the moments of connection between subject and artist. Known for her empathetic approach, Lewis' work seeks to convey deeper truths about the human experience. Her work has been featured in prominent publications such as Harper’s Bazaar US, i-D, and Vogue Mexico, among others. Lewis is currently in production with her first film project titled, The Movement Of Violence, Northern Ireland in collaboration with choreographer Oona Doherty, adding another layer to her multidisciplinary career. By blending her artistic expertise with storytelling, she continues to push boundaries and challenge perceptions, inviting audiences to experience the world through her unique lens.
Larry McCarthy, Ph.D., has wide-ranging international sport business experience having served as the 40th President of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). He become GAA President in 2021 and was the first person, in the 136 year history of the organization to be elected to this prestigious position from outside of Ireland. He has extensive Olympic Games Organizing Committee experience, having worked as an Olympic Envoy with The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG). He is a founding member of the Sport Marketing Association. Larry teaches at the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University. His research focuses on sport marketing and has appeared in the Journal of Sport Management, Sport Marketing Quarterly and the European Journal of Sport Management. He co-authored with William Sutton and Richard Irwin the text "Sport Promotion and Sales Management." He received a B.Ed. from the University of Limerick, an M.A. from New York University and a Ph.D. in sport management from Ohio State University. He was inducted into the University of Limerick Sports Hall of Fame in 2024. He is Chairman of the Seton Hall University Athletic Council and is a former director of the Institute of International Business in the Stillman School.
Moderator
Rachel Quigley is managing editor of CNN’s commerce and product reviews site Underscored, where she manages a team of 20+. Prior to this, she spent four years at Conde Nast as global audience development and analytics director, managing teams in the US, UK, Europe and LatAm, and was responsible for driving and growing engaged audiences to iconic brands like Vogue, GQ and Glamour. She is a journalist at heart, having started her career as a newspaper reporter in Belfast and then London more than 15 years ago. After moving from print to digital journalism in 2013, she soon became obsessed with how data could be used to inform editorial strategy and in turn grow audiences and revenue. She is an experienced social media marketer and is the proud owner of a Daytime Emmy from a brief period spent as an on-air news correspondent for Daily Mail TV in the US. She has been a board member of Digital Irish since 2016, a non-profit that promotes Irish Innovation and Irish Innovators globally, with a view to making impactful business connections across the Irish diaspora.
Event venue & nearby stays
Jerome Greene Hall (Law School), Columbia University, New York, United States
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