Former US president Bill Clinton has been confirmed as a speaker at the second Global Irish Economic Forum, which will take place in Dublin Castle next month.

Clinton will attend the event on October 7 and 8 in a private capacity, and will deliver an address to the 300 attendees from the worlds of politics, business and culture. His wife Hillary, the US Secretary of State, is not expected to attend.

While the government was keen to attract Clinton, it is understood that his attendance was brokered by businessman Declan Kelly, who was appointed US economic envoy to the North by Hillary Clinton in 2009.

Kelly recently stepped down from the role, and has set up an investment and consulting business, Teneo.

Bill Clinton is chairman of Teneo and one of his former senior advisors, Doug Band, is a co-founder of the company. The advisory board of Teneo also includes the former British prime minister, Tony Blair.

Teneo has offices in London, New York, Toronto, and Washington, and is setting up a base in Dublin. The firm is believed to be informally advising the Irish government on the country’s debt issues, on a pro bono basis.

Kelly, who was an adviser to Hillary Clinton when she ran for the US presidency in 2008, will also attend the Dublin Castle event.

A former journalist and co-founder of Gallagher & Kelly Public Relations in Dublin, he led the buy-out of Financial Dynamics in 2003, and sold it three years later to FTI Consulting for $340 million.

Courtesy of the SBP.