December Newsletter | A wrap to a wonderful year!

January 04, 2026

A Chara   Nollaig Shona Duit!   By the time you get this newsletter, Christmas will be over and you’ll no doubt be recovering from the festivities including a nice and traditional swim on the day itself.    And don’t forget that 6 January 2026 marks Nollaig na mBan (Women’s Christmas), a tradition where women get a well‑deserved rest after caring for everyone throughout the festive season, while the men take over the household duties.

Looking Back   Tai Po In November, the Irish Chamber joined the wider international chamber community in Hong Kong in expressing our condolences following the tragic fire in Tai Po. The incident was a sobering moment for the city. The response from the emergency services and other government departments and services, and volunteers, and local businesses highlighted the strength of our city.

Annual Christmas Lunch   As ever, the annual Christmas Lunch at the Hong Kong Yacht Club in Causeway Bay, was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect and connect with members and friends of the Irish Chamber of Commerce.   We were honoured to welcome the Dr Nicholas O'Brien, Ambassador of Ireland to China, Jennifer Bourke, the Consul General of Ireland in Hong Kong, and Regina Ip, the Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong.   Thank you to the many raffle sponsors, the wonderful staff at the HKYC, and everyone who attended.

Gold (Gold)   Co-hosted by the Irish Chamber of Commerce of Hong and the American Chamber of Hong Kong, a practical briefing was held on gold as an asset class giving the audience the power to know more about gold (gold). (That’s enough Spandau Ballet references for now).   President of the Irish Chamber Pádraig Seif and Stephen Browne, CEO of Sorted, shared insights into gold investment vehicles, Hong Kong’s competitive advantages, common precious metals scams, and the tokenisation of gold means ownership is globally accessible. Pádraig’s famous ‘Show and Tell’ (trademark pending) was in full effect as the audience members got to hold a real gold bar, getting to see first-hand about this investment grade product up close and personal.   Special thanks to AmCham and everyone attending. Look out for more events coming up.

Future Leaders   The last meetup of the Irish Chamber’s Young Professionals took place in late November and organised by Nikita Yeung, our Young Professionals and Inclusion Board member. This event was a huge success and everyone enjoyed the networking experience and the opportunity to catch up with friends and make new connections.   Well done, Nikita!

Sport   The Irish Chamber sends big congratulations to Caitríona Jennings who was awarded The Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman Award for November in the athletics category. In early November, Caitriona, competing in her first 100-mile race, set a new world record by winning the Tunnel Hill 100 in Illinois in 12:37:04 smashing the previous record of 12:42:40 set by Camille Herron in 2017.   In other sports news, Conor Maguire has surfed what is believed to be the biggest wave ever ridden off the coast of Co Sligo, as rare conditions produced massive sets measuring between 40 and 50 feet.   Read more herehttps://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2025/1218/1549726-surfing-mullaghmore/

Coming Up   Arts and Culture Sean Curran and Bonni Chan’s Theatre du Pif has become known for its cross-cultural heritage and English and Cantonese or bilingual productions. Supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Theatre du Pif has toured its productions to Canada, China, Columbia, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK.   2026 is Irish Theatre Year and Theatre du Pif has an incredible line up including an Intensive 5-day directing workshop led by the renowned founder and artistic director of Druid Theatre Company, Galway, Garry Hynes. This will be followed by a conversation evening with Garry Hynes on 23 February 2026 at the Studio Theatre at Hong Kong University.   March sees an education and workshop programme that will tour Hong Kong’s schools and Universities offering an introduction to Brian Friel’s Faith Healer. This play is about the life of faith healer Francis Hardy and was voted as one of the 100 most significant plays of the 20th century in a poll conducted by Royal National Theatre and named by The Independent as one of the ’40 best plays of all time’.   There are many more events coming up and, for more information on this and about ticketing, please see the Theatre du Pif’s website here.

Figure on the right: Garry Hynes, artistic director of Druid Theatre Company, Galway

Slán go fóill

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