2012 Dignitaries & Guests
GREETINGS FROM GOVERNOR NATHAN DEAL
2012 Grand Marshal
ATLANTA MAYOR KASIM REED … Since taking office, Mayor Reed has continued his track record of strong leadership. He has implemented several successful initiatives, having hired more than 400 police officers, re-opened all of the city’s recreation centers as safe havens for young people and improved core city services such as fire-rescue response times and sanitation services. He has even increased the city’s reserve from $7.4 million to more than $94 million dollars. Not only are we grateful for his leadership of this city, we’re also delighted to have our beloved Mayor leading our parade later today as Grand Marshal.
Honorary Grand Marshal
Senator Johnny Isakson Johnny Isakson is a businessman, a public servant and family man whose common-sense approach and conservative values have made him a leader in Georgia for over 30 years.
Johnny began his business career in 1967 when he opened the first Cobb County office of a small, family-owned real estate business, Northside Realty. Johnny later served as president of Northside for 20 years, presiding over the company’s growth into the largest independent residential real estate brokerage company in the Southeast and one of the largest in America. READ MORE
Honorary Grand Marshal
Congressman John Lewis Often called “one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced,” John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls “The Beloved Community” in America. His dedication to the highest ethical standards and moral principles has won him the admiration of many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the United States Congress. The Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has called Rep. Lewis “the conscience of the U.S. Congress.” And Roll Call magazine has said, “John Lewis…is a genuine American hero and moral leader who commands widespread respect in the chamber.” READ MORE
Irish Guest of Honor
Jimmy Deenihan, T.D. Following his re-election to the 31st Dáil, Mr. Jimmy Deenihan, T.D. was appointed Minister of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on the 9th March 2011. Deputy Deenihan was appointed spokesperson for Defence from July 2007 -July 2010 when he was re-appointed spokesperson on Tourism, Culture and Sport having served in this portfolio from June 2002 to May 2007. A Dáil deputy since 1987, Deputy Deenihan was appointed as Advisor to the Leader on Northern Ireland Policy and Party Spokesperson on Sport in February 2001. He was Fine Gael’s Junior Spokesperson on Environmental Information and Protection from June 2000 to February 2001. Prior to this, Deputy Deenihan was the Fine Gael spokesperson on the Office of Public Works (1997-2000). READ MORE
2012 Guest of Honor
Paul Gleeson Consul General of Ireland, Atlanta Paul Gleeson is Ireland’s first Consul General in Atlanta. He established Ireland’s first new Consulate in the United States since the 1930s. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the London School of Economics, Mr. Gleeson joined Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs in 2001. He has served at the Embassy of Ireland in South Africa (where he had responsibility for reporting on political developments in Zimbabwe); at the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union in Brussels; and at Ireland’s Mission to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
Prior to taking up his post as Consul General in Atlanta, Mr. Gleeson had responsibility for North-South cooperation within Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, helping to implement the all-island aspects of Ireland’s landmark 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement. He has also worked in support of Ireland’s development cooperation and aid programmes in Mozambique and Lesotho.
Away from work, Paul is a fan of most sports, particularly football (soccer) and hurling. At university, he was Auditor (President) of the Trinity College Historical Society, the oldest undergraduate debating society in the world. He won the prestigious Irish Times Debating Competition and was a finalist at the World University Debating Championships.
Paul is married to Alita Byrd. They have two sons, Zach and Daniel.