Pat Bourne took up his current role as Ambassador of Ireland in Singapore in August 2018. Pat is a career diplomat who has served in the Irish Foreign Service since 1990. Prior to that, he worked in the Department of Justice. In his diplomatic career, Pat has had the following overseas postings; Baghdad (1990), Tehran (1991-1994), Copenhagen (1994-1995), Canberra (1997-2001), New Delhi (2004-2009) and, most recently, as Consul General in Edinburgh (2013-2015).Pat’s assignments in Dublin have seen him serve in a number of HQ Divisions including the Political Division, Development Cooperation Division, and Economic Division. He has also served on secondment with the Office of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) working in the area of EU policy. His most recent HQ assignment was as Director of Consular Affairs from 2015 to 2018. As well as Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore, Pat is concurrently the Irish Ambassador responsible for The Philippines, Brunei, Timor-Leste, the Republic of The Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federates states of Micronesia. Pat studied International Relations to MA level in Dublin City University. Pat is married to Sonali Rajasingham and they have two adult daughters.

Kate arrived to Singapore in 2014 relocating from Paris. While in Paris, she completed a Masters in International Management followed by 5 years working at the New York Stock Exchange. She works in Investment Banking (futures and options) and took up the Presidency role of the Irish Chamber of Commerce Singapore in September 2020, having served as Vice President since 2017.

Prior to moving to Singapore, Kate lived in the US and Italy. She holds a CEMS (Community of European Management Schools) Masters degree in International Management from Michael Smurfit Business School and HEC Paris alongside a BComm International undergraduate degree from University College Dublin and Bocconi University, Milan.

Kate co-chairs J.P. Morgan’s diversity and inclusion network (Women on the Move ) in Singapore who have over 1000 members. She is passionate about business, entrepreneurship and connecting the global Irish business community and friends of Ireland.

Grainne has over 20 years' experience in corporate finance and international banking. She has advised listed corporates and private equity on their investments in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Based in Singapore for over 10 years, Grainne currently is an Executive Director in Standard Chartered Bank, in the Global Special Assets Management team. Prior to that, she was Director of Corporate Finance & Investment for Fine Grain Property, an international real estate investor and operator. Before moving to Singapore, Grainne was a Director of the corporate finance boutique, DC Advisory in London where she advised on billions of dollars of complex, multi-jurisdictional financings and restructurings and was responsible for returning numerous clients to financial health. Prior to that, Grainne worked in the Capital Markets division of Allied Irish Banks in London focusing on syndicated loans and CDS.

Grainne is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland and trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in Dublin

Kevin Ryan is Director ASEAN for Enterprise Ireland, working with a dedicated team of market advisers based in Singapore. Enterprise Ireland is the Irish Government Trade & Technology Office responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets. We work in partnership with Irish enterprises to help them start, grow, innovate and win export sales in global markets. In this way, we support sustainable economic growth, regional development and secure employment. In his role as ASEAN Director with Enterprise Ireland, Kevin works with a team of dedicated advisers to support and scale Irish client companies across a broad number of sectors, supporting these clients with their internationalisation and entry to the Asia Pacific region. This includes engaging with the business community in the region, supporting client companies open a new presence as well as collaborating with Government bodies across the entire SE Asian region along other leading organisations and established businesses in the region.

IDA Ireland (Investment Development Agency) is the state agency directly responsible for attracting foreign direct investment into Ireland to create jobs and contribute to the economic development of the country.
IDA works to position Ireland as the ideal hub for companies seeking to expand their global footprint and use Ireland as their beachhead for doing business in Europe and the EU.
IDA’s staff work in close partnership with C-level executives and the senior management of foreign-headquartered companies to develop solutions and assist them to set-up and grow their businesses from Ireland into Europe and beyond. A sample of IDA’s client companies from the region includes Bank of China Aviation, VietJetAir, Standard Chartered, Keppel Corp, Kuok Group, ST Engineering, Creative Technologies, Advantech and Indorama.

Gerard Whitty was appointed Director of IDA Ireland’s office in Singapore in December 2013 with responsibility for attracting investments from the ASEAN region and Taiwan into Ireland. Gerard’s experience in Asia spans over 17 years, working in a variety of senior sales and business development roles in advertising, exhibitions, conferences and events across Asia including in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Macau.

Prior to moving to Asia, Gerard worked in both France and the UK. A graduate in European Business Administration from the International Partnership of Business Schools (IPBS - Middlesex University Business School in London & Reims Management School in France), Gerard is an active member of the Irish community in Singapore and enjoys playing football, golf and tennis.

Ciarán has been Bord Bia’s South East Asia since 2016 when he opened the Bord Bia office in Singapore. The role involves working with Irish and South East Asian food and drink companies across Dairy, Meat, Seafood, Beverages and Prepared Consumer Food categories. Now with a team of four full-time staff and four Bord Bia Fellows he is responsible for agency’s initiatives and activities across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Prior to this role, Ciarán spent four years in Shanghai as Asia Pacific Commercial Strategy, Analytics & Processes Manager for Glanbia Nutritionals. He volunteered as Chair of the Irish Chamber of Commerce China.

Ciarán studied at NTU Singapore as part of the Farmleigh Fellowship Class of 2011, and holds a B.A. (Hons) Economics from Trinity College,Dublin.