18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

Prototypical answer:

Dot-Irish LLC
Question 18A

Dot-Irish (.Irish) is a new top-level domain for the global Irish Diaspora. Our mission is to provide a meaningful domain name alternative and to develop, promote and support valuable services and initiatives for Irish businesses, organizations and people all over the world. While approximately 6 million people reside on the island of Ireland, nearly 80 million people worldwide identify themselves with Irish heritage. Annual trade exports on the Island of Ireland now exceed €100 Billion and imports exceed €50 Billion. Therefore, a social and business marketplace exists for the .Irish top-level domain. We envision a niche yet valuable place on the Internet where businesses, organizations and people that wish to be categorized as Irish may readily do so.

The Company has made several presentations and taken numerous consultations to date in an effort to build support and solidify the direction of .Irish. Parties to these meetings include political organizations from every end of the spectrum in Ireland, members of European Parliament, other government officials and regulators, major international charity and cultural organizations, ICANN meeting presentations and more. These efforts have helped us confirm that there is a demand for the domain, and the concept is well received.

The partners of Dot-Irish LLC represent a consortium of diverse and talented men and women from Ireland and the United States. Brief descriptions on our core team can be found below. Additional information on our partners, consultants and service providers can be found in Question 18B. It is in the spirit of new cultural connections and communications made possible through the development of the Internet and the DNS that we present .Irish as a top-level domain for the greater Irish Diaspora.

.IRISH TEAM

John Toland is the Founder and CEO of Dot-Irish LLC. A native of Belfast, Mr. Toland has developed and supported businesses in real estate and technology for over 20 years. His efforts include the provision of housing and support services to statutory agencies, property development, web development, media production and research. He supports approximately 50 staff across these businesses. Mr. Toland has conducted research and development on new gTLDs for over 5 years.

Shane Naughton is the COO of Dot-Irish LLC. Shane is a seasoned technology entrepreneur, has founded a number of technology companies and advises various technology start-ups. He co-founded and became CTO of TaxStream LLC, which became the #1 software provider in its space and was sold to Thomson Reuters in 2008. In 2010, he was elected to the Wall Street 50 list, for the top 50 Irish working on Wall Street. Shane is also very active in the Irish American community in New York and is a benefactor to many Irish charities. Shane earned his B.A. and M.A. in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin, and was awarded a gold medal for academic excellence.

Edward A. White is the CMO of Dot-Irish LLC. Mr. White is a co-founder of TLD Assets LLC and has participated in the domain industry for three years. He has priorly engaged in a range of professional experiences spanning media, technology, finance, and energy. Mr. White formerly played professional basketball in Ireland and participated in cross-community programs in Belfast. His mother, Mary Margaret McCarthy, traces her heritage to Counties Cork and Tyrone. Mr. White is a graduate of Yale University in Political Science and currently resides in New York City.

Edward L. White is the CFO of Dot-Irish LLC. Mr. White is the founding and Senior Partner of Edward White & Co., LLP, Certified Public Accountants. He is a certified public accountant in the state of California, member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, has a Certification in Financial Forensics and a MBA from the University of Southern California. Edward White & Co., LLP was founded in Los Angeles in 1976, and provides a full range of services to a multinational client base.

Dr. Dennis Jennings is a board member of Dot-Irish LLC. Dr. Jennings is the former Vice-Chairman of the ICANN Board of Directors, where he also has contributed to board governance and the IDN Variant Issues Project. He has served on the boards of numerous startup and venture capital companies. In the 1990s, Dr. Jennings oversaw the creation and management of .IE while at University College Dublin, where he earlier received Ph.D. and B.Sc degrees. He was an integral part of pioneering the Internet through his work on the NSFnet with the National Science Foundation in the 1980s. Dr. Jennings currently resides with his family in Dublin.

Matthew Keenan is the CTO of Dot-Irish LLC. Mr. Keenan has over 20 years experience in Internet consulting, working with numerous startup companies as well as financial institutions. He is an Irish native of Australia, where he began programming as early as 11 years old and later studied at the University of New South Wales. For the past six years, Mr. Keenan has worked as an independent technical consultant in Ireland, where he resides with his wife and four children.

Patrick Tully is the Director of Outreach for Dot-Irish LLC. Mr. Tully is the National Director of the American Ireland Fund’s Young Leaders society. He has been involved in two technology start-up firms including Forman Interactive (now Register.com) and Citystuff.com. Mr. Tully is very active in the nonprofit sector, serving as a board member, auctioneer or fundraiser with organizations such as the Kate Shea Foundation, Russell Simmons’ Art For Life, Petra Nemcovaʹs Happy Hearts Fund and The Jorge Posada Foundation.

Keith Charlton and Louise Corken are members of Dot-Irish LLC. The couple own and run Bunk Campers, an innovative and internationally recognized tourism business in Ireland, with trade partners in 25 countries bringing inbound tourists. Louise is an award winning Marketing Director and has served in product development for prominent companies including Rank Hovis McDougal, Sainsbury’s and Safeway. Keith has over 15 years experience in the FMCG sector, serving in senior sales, marketing and management consulting roles for companies including Gillette and PepsiCo.

Kathleen Kelley is a member of Dot-Irish LLC. Ms. Kelley has over 21 years of investment experience including roles at Vantis Capital Management, Tudor Investment Corporation, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and most recently as Macro Portfolio manager at Kingdon Capital Management. Ms. Kelley received a BA in Economics from Smith College and studied econometrics at the London School of Economics. She serves on several charity boards including High Water Women, Happy Hearts Fund and ReServe. Ms. Kelley currently lives in London with her three children.

Four Shamrocks LLC is based in Tampa, Florida and owned by Tom Shannon, his son Tommy Shannon and two son in-laws, Ryan McDonald and Jack Deal. Mr. Shannon has an extensive and accomplished career in real estate development. He has successfully developed and run the Outback Steakhouse franchise in California for 18 years and has received numerous awards including the Stars of the South Irish American award in 2007 and the Horatio Alger Award in 2009. His sons have diverse professional credentials in marketing, sales and development spanning real estate, technology and finance industries.

Paul Drumm is a member of Dot-Irish LLC. Mr. Drumm is a trader and portfolio manager at UBS O’Connor LLC in Chicago. He has worked in finance for over 15 years in various roles, primarily with UBS and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Drumm is a member of the American Ireland Fund Young Leaders and a Board Member of the Lasalle Street for St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital. Mr. Drumm traces his heritage to County Cork through grandparents on both sides of the fami

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