9/22/99

Kathleen O'Toole, News Service (650) 725-1939; e-mail: kathleen.otoole@stanford.edu

NEWS ADVISORY: PRIVATE EVENT FOR MEDIA COVERAGE. NOT FOR ADVANCE PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST

Irish President McAleese to speak today on Irish/Silicon Valley connections

Mary McAleese, president of Ireland, will speak at Stanford's Bechtel Conference Center at 4:30 p.m. on today, Sept. 20. Ireland is the second largest exporter of software, and her 25-minute talk is expected to focus on Ireland's business connections to Silicon Valley. She also will take questions from the audience, which will include Stanford faculty and students as well as invited Silicon Valley executives and members of the Irish community.

The symposium is not open to the public, but media members who arrive by 4 p.m. with working press credentials can attend. A mult box and lighting will be provided. The conference center is in Encina Hall at the corner of Galvez and Serra streets.

McAleese, the first Irish president to come from British-ruled Northern Ireland, was elected president in 1997. Her campus visit is sponsored by Stanford's Institute for International Studies.

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