Irish emigré Robert G Kearns has prospered in his adopted home of Toronto, building an insurance business over the 35 years since departing Ireland. Kearns was back in Ireland last week to promote the Ireland Park Foundation, a charitable nonprofit organisation he set up to celebrate the story of the Irish in Canada.

The foundation raised 3.7 million Canadian dollars (about €2.8 million) to build Ireland Park on Toronto’s waterfront – the successful realisation of Kearns’s ambition to create inspiring spaces in Canada that both celebrate and commemorate Ireland’s presence in Canada, where about 4.4 million Canadians – 13 per cent of the population – trace their ancestry to Ireland

Kearns was home for an event at the Canadian embassyto announce that investment group iNua Partnership has signed up as a corporate partner and fundraising affiliate the foundation. While he may be a long time out of Ireland, his family is well known here. Robert is brother to president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns.