The Business Events Industry in Ireland loses a shining star: Sue Uda, RIP

by Pádraic Gilligan, Co-founder, Soolnua Consulting & Research | Consultancy, SITE

Sue Uda, who founded the Ireland Chapter of SITE in the late 1990s, has sadly passed away after a long illness. As the Irish saying goes, “Ní Bheidh A Leithéid Ann Arís” — her like will not be seen again.

A quiet visionary, Sue was someone who shunned the spotlight but led with sharp intelligence and unwavering determination. She dedicated herself to building strong, lasting businesses and partnerships, always with purpose and integrity at the core.

I first met Sue back in 1989 or 1990. I was still teaching at the time, but working during the Easter and summer holidays as an Italian-speaking tour guide. Along with CIE Tours International, Abbey Tours, Kevin Shannon Tours, and others, Sue’s fledgling company, A Touch of Ireland, was one of my regulars.

Before #WFH was even a concept, Sue worked from home. When you called in to A Touch of Ireland for a pre-tour briefing, you entered the beautiful home she shared with her late Italian husband, Gianpiero, and their uber-talented artist son, David. This was work-life balance before the term was even coined. There was a seamlessness between her personal and professional lives, one that extended to her clients, whom she treated as family. This ethos — of forensic care, of hyper-personal connection — was the foundation of everything she did. It became the unbreakable glue that bound her team of co-workers together over the decades.

And therein lay Sue’s superpower. She had a rare ability to identify, attract, and surround herself with extraordinary people, keeping them in her orbit with a magnetic pull. They’d come as tentative flickering lights, and under Sue’s care, they’d emerge as bright shining stars. This wasn’t just about staff or colleagues — it applied equally to business partners, freelancers, suppliers, and clients alike. If you joined Sue’s team, you stayed on Sue’s team.

Sue approached Patrick Delaney and me at the famous EIBTM in Geneva in the mid nineties. She had a proposal: let’s start a chapter of SITE in Ireland. Ireland had hosted SITE’s Global Conference back in 1992, but in the years that followed, momentum had been lost, and despite a strong awareness of SITE in Ireland, no chapter had formed.

With Sue as chair and, if I recall correctly, a committee made up, variously, of Brian Murray, Sandra Cummins, Adrienne Clark, Michael McCormack from NITB, Susan Nolan, Catherine Bodley and me, we laid the foundations for what would become one of the strongest SITE chapters in the world and, arguably, along with SITE SoCal, SITE Chicago and SITE GB, the best SITE Christmas / Holiday event on the global calendar. Sue remained as treasurer for SITE Ireland for donkey’s years, way beyond any formal bylaws might proscribe!

Sue was a steadfast presence at SITE events, both in Ireland and internationally, attending most Global Conferences until illness curtailed her travel. With the late Tony Graham and others, she fought to keep a SITE event in Europe after the announcement was made in St. Petersburg that the annual SITE European University would no longer continue. Our protests led to the creation of ESNEP (the European SITE Networking & Education Programme), which Sue attended with enthusiasm for the eight or so years it endured.

Sue’s core business focused on European source markets and included both tour and travel as well as business events, all serviced seamlessly by a multi-lingual team. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her into several partnerships. She was an early investor in Conference Partners, now owned by Nicola McGrane and one of Europe’s leading PCOs, and in Global Teamwork with Éanna Lalor, further testament to Sue’s uncanny ability to spot and nurture exceptional talent.

Though less present at industry events in recent years, Sue was given well-deserved recognition by both SITE and AIPCO (the Association of Irish Professional Conference Organisers) for her immense contribution to the business events industry in Ireland. On both occasions, her acceptance of these accolades was marked by the same disarming humility and unassuming grace that defined her throughout her career.

Sue leaves behind a legacy of excellence, integrity, connection and kindness. Her contributions to the industry, to her clients, and to all who worked with her will continue to be felt for years to come.

But it is in her people — the ones she mentored, the ones she inspired — that her true impact lives on. Her like will never be seen again.