Ireland France Business Awards & Gala Dinner 2024

Kicking off the evening on dry land in the Salon Nework just beside the Statue of Liberty Paris, a networking cocktail set the scene for the Awards Ceremony. Master of Ceremonies and President of NetworkIrlande, Richard Dujardin, welcomed distinguished guests, the official partner Kingspan and award sponsors, shortlisted companies and the business community at large and brought guests up to date on developments in NetworkIrlande in the two years since we last hosted the event in The Ritz in 2022. He also evoked the extremely successful Ireland France Economic Forum which had taken place earlier in the day, organised by both Embassies and semi-state agencies, and which had been attended by the majority of the attendees of the event.
Minister Paschal Donohoe, unable to attend in person, beamed across the giant LED screen with a warm address to the Franco-Irish business community. 
Then onwards to the raison d’être of the evening – the awards themselves. 
The winners were: 

• Best Irish Company in France sponsored by Primark: Smurfit Westrock. The award was presented by Christine Loizy, Directeur Générale Primark France to Andrew Coffey, Chief Executive Officer, Smurfit Westrock France.
• Best French Company in Ireland sponsored by IDA Ireland: AXA. The award was presented by Bernard Smith, Director of Europe, IDA Ireland to Des Crowley, Chair of AXA Insurance Dac & Helen Browne,  Group Legal and Compliance.
• Franco-Irish Business - Newcomer of the Year sponsored by Stripe: Access Earth. The award was presented by Barbara O’Beirne, CEO of Stripe Technology Europe Ltd. to Alanna Clarke of Enterprise Ireland who accepted it on behalf of Matt McCann, CEO of Access Earth who was unable to attend. 

We then moved to the second part of the evening – the Gala Dinner and Cruise along the Seine. We were lucky with a dry evening and low water levels which enabled Paris to shine in all its splendour for the enjoyment of the guests. Le Paquebot, the largest of the fleet of yachts on the Seine, welcomed the French Olympic team earlier in the year for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Tom Dolan, winner of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, rivited guests over dinner with an emotional speech about his journey and Aine Murray, President of the France Ireland Chamber of Commerce, closed out the evening’s remarks by inviting guests to Dublin for the next edition of the awards on November 13th 2025. 
As the boat neared and hovered at the Eiffel Tower, she graciously sparkled and scintillated as the majority of guests moved to the roof to capture themselves and the moment on film before docking. A fitting end to a very Parisian evening.