Breaking: Three Tipp men to be honoured in the US for entrepreneurial excellence

Congratulations to the three Tipp men who are to receive a prestigious award.

placeholder image — Congratulations to the three Tipp men who are to receive a prestigious award.

Noel Kenehan, Tadhg Burke and Gerard Dwyer will be feted on March 15th at the Stanford Faculty Club, Stanford, California.

Three Tipperary men are to receive very prestigious awards in Silicon Valley on March 15th as part of a Global Award initiative which recognises entrepreneurial excellence across all technology platforms.

Noel Kenehan, originally from Killoskehane, Barnane, Borrisoleigh is the Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Ericsson; Tadhg Burke, Clogher, Clonoulty is Director Global Employee Services, Netflix; and Gerard Dwyer is CFO Waymo.

And, the three Premier County men are being honoured along with others at the Stanford Faculty Club, Stanford, California, two days before St Patrick's Day. The Silicon Valley Global Awards brings together the most entrepreneurial minds in Silicon Valley and beyond to honor top Irish and Irish-American executives making a significant impact in their field. A total of fifty executives are selected and honored each year. The event generates rich networking opportunities, and showcases experts and innovators from the ITLG community advancing technology today.

Noel Kenehan

The Tipperary Star caught up with Noel Kenehan this week and the former Drom-Inch hurler was thrilled with the award. A regular visitor home to see his father Noel and his relations and many friends, Noel is a past pupil of Barnane National School and St Joseph's College, Borrisoleigh - his older brother Jim works with Intel and together they stage an annual engineering day in Barnane NS for the current pupils to help inspire the entrepreneurs of the future.

“I was in UL (studying electronic engineering) in College with Tadhg Burke and we meet up regularly here in the US, so it's great that we are both being honoured at the same time. What I am at now is a far cry from milking cows before school, but it is very exciting,” Noel said.

Established in October 2007 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, the ITLG is a non-profit organization comprised of senior executives from some of the world's leading corporations, each of whom is committed to promoting the technology connection between Ireland and the Silicon Valley.

Tadhg Burke

And, to be honoured by this group is indeed an achievement for Noel, Gerard and Tadhg who are operating at the very cutting edge of the hi-tech industry. Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphries is to attend the event in the US and there may be an opportunity for the three Tipperary lads to meet with and greet the Minister.

Noel, who is married to Vera and has one son, does not see himself returning to Ireland in the immediate future. However, he does love to come home and keeps in constant contact with the goings on in Drom-Inch - he captained the senior hurling team during his last season wearing the green and white in 2004 and was regarded as a very determined, committed and competant defender - many of the traits which have helped him to achieve great success in his career also.

Gerard Dwyer

Tadhg and Gerard are also very well known locally and are this week toasting their awards. They too have worked very hard to get to where they are - a long way from Tipperary at this stage - but their links with home remain as strong as ever.

Congrats to these three proud sons of The Premier County - a county which is very proud of them also.