Our Next Event ……
The 2012 Autumn Dinner
Thursday, 4th October 2012
Guest Speakers: KYRAN BRACKEN MBE & BRENDAN HEALY
Tickets: £55 + VAT each
Subsequent Events
The 2013 Spring & Autumn Dinners
Dates to be confirmed shortly….
Speaker Profiles
Kyran Bracken MBE
Born in Dublin of a dentist father and a mother who had played hockey for Ireland, Kyran’s family moved to England when he was aged 4 and he was brought up in Liverpool. Coached at Stonyhurst College by former England Head Coach Brian Ashton, Kyran played initially for Waterloo RFC, but joined Bristol in 1992 whilst studying Law at the University and stayed on after qualifying as a solicitor.
In the meantime, Kyran had made his debut for England against New Zealand in 1993 but a major ankle injury put him out of action for 3 months. Whilst his professional rugby career actually lasted for 14 seasons, injury and serious competition for the scrum half berth restricted his International appearances. Nevertheless, after joining Saracens in 1996 he helped the Club to defeat Wasps and win the Tetleys Bitter Cup in 2008. A year earlier, after initially being left out of the British Lions Squad for South Africa in favour of Matt Dawson and Austin Healey, he was called out as a replacement for injured Rob Howley but did not feature in any of the Test Matches.
Injury kept Kyran out of the 1999 World Cup and he was again not selected for the Lions in 2001, for the tour to Australia, but he did Captain England on a three match development tour of North America. Two years later, he played in England’s summer tour to Australia and New Zealand, defeating both countries. Kyran’s last four caps were won during the 2003 World Cup in Australia, his 50th appearance against Wales in the quarter-final and his last in the semi-final against France. He then announced his retirement from International rugby but played on with Saracens until 2006.
Less than a year later, in March 2007, Kyran starred in and won the second series of the very popular ITV celebrity ice dancing competition, “Dancing on Ice” with partner Melanie Lambert, with whom he achieved a record score in the semi-final of 29.5 points out of 30. A week after the Final he also won the special edition of the Show, “The Champion of Champions”. Since then he has set up and runs a successful touring skating show, “Kyran’s Ice Party”.
These days a resident in north London with his wife and three sons, Kyran is also a very popular speaker on the circuit where he is able to combine his natural sense of humour with his knowledge of business principles and vast experience as an International sportsman.
Brendan Healy
Brendan began his professional career as a musician playing keyboards in several groups in his native north-east of England and most famously with the legendary 1960s rock band ‘Lindisfarne’. After moving into theatre where he was quickly taken on by Tyne Tees TV to present children’s television, including the popular 1970s show, “Razzmatazz”, Brendan has continued to work in television, writing more than forty TV signature tunes to date.
He returned to the theatre for many years where he played everything from Shakespeare to comedy, performing alongside many of the established stars of rep or touring theatre such as Bill Maynard and Penelope Keith. Many high profile TV appearances followed, in shows such as ‘Spender’, ‘Boon’, ‘Auf Weidersehen Pet’, ‘Crocodile Shoes’ and ‘Coronation Street’. Brendan now has his own production company, promoting pantomime and musical theatre.
For the past decade or so, Brendan has also enjoyed a very successful career as a much sought-after comedian and entertainer, appearing as guest comedian in the ‘Tom O’Connor Show”. As a result he is in great demand on the after-dinner circuit for corporate events and sporting dinners here in the UK and abroad in Europe and the USA.