LAST week the founder and chairman of telecommunications group Digicel Denis O’Brien who is also the winner of last year’s Jamaica Observer Business Leader Award was honoured by the American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ) and was presented with the 2011 Humanitarian Award at a splendid gala event held at the Capitale on New York’s Lower East Side. Also in attendance was Prime Minister Andrew Holness. Below is the full text of O’Brien’s address.

May I firstly congratulate the American Friends of Jamaica on the focus and dedication that they have given to improving the lives of all Jamaicans, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare, human and, of course, economic development.

The beneficiaries of the AFJ’s work speak in glowing terms of the way that you have completely strengthened the charitable sector in Jamaica.

There is a great love of Jamaica from Ireland also.

And little did I know, when we first came to the shores of Jamaica in 2000, that we would come across a home away from home.

Places like Irish Town and Dublin Castle in the cool hills of St Andrew – Irish Pen and Sligoville in St Catherine.

I have travelled Leinster Road, Leitrim Road, Sackville Road, all in Kingston and St Andrew.

If I close my eyes I hear melodic accents similar to what I find back home.

Luck has played its role.

Luck that in 1655, Admiral Penn and General Venables failed miserably at taking Santo Domingo in Hispaniola and, not wanting to return empty- handed, proceeded to turn their attention to Jamaica where the Spanish settlers could only put up token resistance.

Along the way, these Spanish settlers freed many African slaves who took to the hills and became “Maroons”. The English quickly captured Spanish Town but they lacked workers to exploit their conquest.

Records show that the vast majority of the first wave was made up of young Irish men and women — bonded servants — and for all practical intents, slaves by another name.

These people created the bond between Jamaica and Ireland and of course, America subsequently welcomed mass immigration from Ireland during the Great Famine which struck Ireland in 1845.

In my view, these early bonded slaves from Ireland created the DNA that ultimately made us as a foreign direct investor coming from Ireland feel so welcome.

I cannot speak more highly of the deep friendships and relationships that have been built upon over the last 10 years and, most importantly, the welcomes we received.

The last 10 years have gone like a blur and we have taken Digicel and grown it into a Jamaican multinational with our global headquarters in Kingston.

Our Jamaican managers are now scattered far and wide throughout the world and their talents have made a massive impact on our operations.

Our ethos is to create a different, more responsible form of capitalism.

And yes, Digicel is very much there to make a profit, but being a private company, we can be even more responsible than any other to our communities and our corporate citizens.

That is why the Digicel Foundation is such an important part of what and who we are. Major General Bob Neish and Lisa Lewis are our guiding lights in this. Thanks to them for their dedication.

We also have taken risks that hopefully will be seen to be the right thing for Jamaica, for instance, by moving our global headquarters to the vibrant downtown Kingston area and backing the Government’s plan for urban renewal.

What Jamaica needs more and more is high quality and long-term foreign direct investors and the work of the AFJ in this area is extremely important — particularly in working with Ambassador Marks – as, we have been at a recent investors forum in Washington.

What we need to recognise in attracting these new investors is the importance of a stable government, rules and regulations that are applied even-handedly and most importantly no surprise legislation.

Any new legislation and changing of the ground rules needs to be consulted otherwise all the charms and beauty and good talk about Jamaica as a place to invest in could potentially evaporate.

What is also critically important is predictability. No surprises.

I am excited about working with the Government to bring more foreign direct investment into Jamaica – and to share my experiences.

Tonight is an opportunity for me to say thank you:

* Starting with the former Minister of Telecommunications, Mr Phillip Paulwell – who liberalised this market and for making us pay a huge amount of money for the licence back in 2001

* Our global distribution partners, Facey – chaired by PB Scott and his late grandfather, Desmond Blades, who sadly passed away in 2009

* JAMPRO for speeding up and helping our entrance into the Jamaican market as a foreign direct investor way back in 2000 – Pat Francis

* Butch Stewart and Chris Blackwell for their help and support when we first came to Jamaica

* Jamaica Chamber of Commerce

* PSOJ

* Jean Lowrie-Chin from Procomm

* Peter Moses and Eva Lewis

* Nicole Foga

* Our 49 dealers – many of whom have travelled around the world setting up businesses in support of us – like Bernard Henry and Michael Stern

* Lorna Bell and her Special Olympics team

* Father Gregory at Mustard Seed and Pauline Beaumont at Genesis Academy and all our other community partners

Likewise I would like to thank:

* our CEO of Digicel Jamaica, Mark Linehan, and his team – including our Digicel Jamaica Board Directors, Harry Smith and Tony Chang – for their commitment and dedication

* Major General Robert Neish and Lisa Lewis – Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman of our Digicel Foundation in Jamaica

* Colm Delves, our Group CEO

* Seamus Lynch – our first CEO in Jamaica

* Ken Mason for his great work in business development

* All of our wonderful 5,500 staff members wherever they may be across the globe

* And the many more who have worked with us to achieve our goals.

To you all, I extend my heartfelt thanks.

All of what we have achieved would not have been possible without the welcome of the Jamaican people and the way in which they have continued to support us.

We will continue to earn your loyalty and to work to move our communities forward in a positive way.

Thank you to the American Friends of Jamaica for this wonderful award, I am truly honoured to accept.