Former US presidential candidate John Kerry to speak in Cork

It has been announced that former US Secretary of State and two-time presidential candidate John Kerry will be visiting Cork in June.

Mr Kerry will be attending a conference at City Hall called Our Ocean Wealth, to be held on June 9th and 10th.

The conference is Ireland’s flagship ‘blue economy’ conference, to bring more than 30 representatives from island states around the world to Cork as well as more than 500 national and international delegates.

Marine Institute CEO Peter Heffernan explained:

“The summit brings together engineering, technology, energy and food sectors, and provides enormous opportunities for collaboration and innovation in business.” The summit is a product of the government’s Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth plan, which involves organisations across the board locally and nationally and aims to double the value of the marine economy’s contribution to GDP by 2030.

Welcoming the announcement of the Summit Programme and the distinguished keynote speakers, including Secretary John Kerry, for the 2019 International Conference in City Hall, Cork, Minister for Agriculture, Food & Marine, Michael Creed said “The shared natural resources of our seas and the global oceans transcend national boundaries. We must continue to ensure they are sustainably managed, developed and protected, for the benefit of this and future generations.

"I look forward to the opportunity that the Our Ocean Wealth Summit 2019 provides, as a platform for the small island nations of the world to speak on the particular and acute challenges they are facing and to learn from them.

"The Conference should provide a valuable contribution to the global debate on how to manage the Ocean and protect the future of the small island nations of the world.”