I have some big news that is very emotional and happy news to lead off my Out&About this week about two people who have been very supportive of The Irish Examiner USA. So much so that I am dedicating almost the whole Out&About to honor them for what they have done for the Irish Community here in New York over the years and also to thank them.
The two of them, Paul and George have, in their own artistic ways created an unbelievable passion for the Irish arts that makes us all so proud as they are our Beatles. I am not going to cry right now as I am overwhelmed how the transformation is going to work as you could not plan it any better, I will only say boys’ good luck to both of you.
Here we go then. Paul Finnegan is handing over his role as executive director of The New York Irish Center (NYIC), as he seeks to pursue other professional and personal roles, which he will announce later. Paul has led the organization at 10-40 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City NY, since 2009. Taking his place is George Heslin, the founder and artistic director of Origin Theatre Company, who begins work at NYIC in October. Finnegan will stay on for a number of weeks as an advisor, assuring a smooth transition for the organization, which, when it opened its doors in 2002, was primarily an Irish immigrant service organization and community center, and now is a full-fledged cultural center with a mandate for dynamically engaging diverse local communities within and beyond the Irish diaspora.
Finnegan has been associated with NYIC since its earliest days, working closely with the late Father Colm Campbell, the revered founder who secured the Jackson Avenue building in 2003. The 10,000 sq ft center building, which is now fully owned by the organization, opened in 2005. Since taking over 11 years ago, Finnegan has raised more than $10M for operations and capital campaigns for extensive building upgrades, 100% debt mortgage elimination, and a vastly expanded cultural profile, with public events in theatre, music, film and language arts.
He has helmed the establishment of a reliable support base, including NY City and NY State public funding, Irish government funding, and strategic support from major Irish trusts. An accelerated fundraising campaign in 2017 deleveraged 100% of $1.1M of mortgage debt in a concentrated three-month period. Year-on-year giving frequency skyrocketed under Finnegan’s term to a more than healthy 85%.
“It has been my goal during these very rewarding years leading the Center to modernize the organization,” says Finnegan, a native of Galway City, Ireland. “We have deepened our relationship to both the diverse Irish diaspora in Greater New York, and also within Long Island City where we continue to develop deep roots and which we wish to serve as broadly as possible.”
Under Finnegan’s tenure, NYIC has developed increasingly progressive and community-active programs. Its Story Continues networking series is designed to more fully understand Irish cultural identity, including intra-racial and contemporary family dynamics, which is particularly timely as both the United States and Ireland grapple with their unique social legacies.
NYIC also maintains a strategic partnership with Solace House, a provider of mental health services, directly addressing the high incidence of suicide on the Island of Ireland and in Irish communities abroad.
NYIC has also played a key role, in collaboration with four other New York Irish organizations, for Slainte2020.org – a platform which has delivered $0.5M in community donations to those in desperate financial straits following the abrupt shutdown of the New York City economy in March. In recent years NYIC has expanded its activities with the Long Island City Partnership B.I.D.
“I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to continue Paul Finnegan’s phenomenal success in bringing sustainable growth to the New York Irish Center,” says Heslin, a Limerick native, who, with his own board of directors, is interviewing possible successors at Origin. “I will be advising Origin for a short time, just as Paul is generously guiding me in my new role as executive director of NYIC, so that both organizations are in the best possible positions to continue to thrive as we all face and then emerge from the enormous challenges of the pandemic.”
In addition to the highly praised Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival, which for the past 12 years has brought together a mix of new and acclaimed productions from both sides of the Atlantic (either imported or developed locally), Origin produces Off-Broadway productions; the ambitious “European Month of Culture NYC” (in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, the third edition of which was planned for May), and has introduced works by over 300 playwrights to US audiences, from such countries as the Netherlands, Sweden, Romania, Macedonia, Norway, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Finnegan, who will pursue other professional and personal roles, to be announced, has a background in community organizing since arriving from Ireland in 1986. He served as the executive director at Emerald Isle Immigration Center for several years in the mid 1990s. During that time he also helped form the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers and convened its first national gatherings in Washington DC in 1996, and Boston in 1997. In between, he worked for over a decade in information systems in the U.S. food service industry, primarily in Internet branding and marketing, along with business-to-business software implementations across an industry-wide platform of supply-chain partners and customers.
He lives in Glendale, Queens with his wife Rosa and their two children, Kevin and Sara. Again, we here at The Irish Examiner would like to wish Paul Finnegan and George Heslin the best of Irish luck in all their endeavors.
Heartfelt condolences are extended to the Harvey Family on the passing of their beloved brother and cousin, Hugh Harvey, on August 26.
A proud Irish-American, Hugh was a delegate to the UICANY from the County Antrim Association of New York. Hugh served as a Trustee on the UICANY Board of Officers and was also a dedicated Feis worker.
Hugh was a longtime resident of Greenpoint, Brooklyn before moving up to East Durham, Greene County, New York. That move, however, did not deter Hugh from making that long-distance drive into Manhattan every month for the UICANY meeting.
A soft-spoken gentleman and a good friend to many, Hugh will be fondly remembered and sorely missed. RIP.
That what I have for you this week and I hope to see you all again WHEN I am Out&About…