It is a great privilige for me to be the CEO of the ICCEC. I spent nearly 20 years working in the education sector in Hong Kong; as both an educator with the Education Bureau and as an author developing textbooks for Chinese students. My work brought me to various parts of China and when I returned to Ireland, I wanted to give students in Ireland the opportunity to experience the real China and of course to create pathways for Chinese students to experience life in Ireland.

Working with Chinese colleagues here in Cork, we set up the ICCEC with the aim of strengthening relations between Ireland and China in the secondary education space; creating friendships and greater cultural understanding between people in Ireland and China. With the support of Cork City Council, local governments and Education Bureaus in Shanghai and Hangzhou and the Irish Consulate in Shanghai, we have now been able to realise this vision with our first two Irish Transition Year groups visiting China in April 2025 and our first groups from China coming in July 2025.

We are seeing the fruits of these tours already with students, teachers, (and even parents!) expressing a desire to return to China. Students are calling it the trip of a lifetime.

We are very excited about the journey we are now on and we hope you and your students can experience this journey with us.