By Business & Finance 
650 people attended the celebrations to mark the Women’s Executive Network’s Ireland’s Most Powerful Women: Top 25 Awards in Dublin’s InterContinental hotel.
The Women’s Executive Network (WXN) hosted both a Leadership Summit and an Awards Gala to celebrate the winners and allow attendees to learn from the experience and knowledge of these successful women.
225 attended the Leadership Summit which delivered advice on negotiation skills, how to perform under pressure and international leadership trends, while 425 attended the Gala Awards where Philomena Lee and Cathriona Hallahan gave keynote addresses.
“The gender pay gap in Ireland is 14.4% and getting worse according to EU statistics. The stats also show that women with children tend to fare worse in the pay scale against male counterparts,” said Pamela Jeffery, WXN founder.
“Women need to be facilitated in their career progression and confident in their own value in the system. This is why we identify, promote and celebrate successful and influential women in Ireland,” she added.
Female leaders who won or spoke at the event include: Her Excellency, The Irish Ambassador to the US, Anne Anderson; Ulster Bank NI’s head, Ellvena Graham; Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan; Vodafone Ireland’s Anne O’Leary; Paypal’s Louise Phelan; Glanbia’s Siobhan Talbot; Keeling’s Caroline Keeling; Bank of Ireland’s Julie Sharp; Tesco’s Christine Heffernan; Judge Fidelma Macken SC; Love Hate’s Suzanne McAuley; youth campaigner, Joanne O’Riordan; and vocal legend Veronica Cross.
The winners
WXN creates a list of winners through research and the counsel of the WXN Advisory Board. Ireland’s Most Powerful Women: Top 25 Award winners are as follows:
HSBC Corporate Executives Award
- Bronwyn Brophy, Covidien Group, Medtronic EMEA
- Rosaleen Burke, Boston Scientific
- Helen Dooley, AIB
- Christine Heffernan, Tesco Ireland
- Nicola McCracken, CRH plc
- Fionnuala Meehan, Google Ireland
- Marie Moynihan, Dell
- Julie Sharp, Bank of Ireland
Business Leaders
- Ellvena Graham, Ulster Bank Group
- Anne O’Leary, Vodafone Ireland
- Louise Phelan, PayPal
- Siobhan Talbot, Glanbia plc
Entrepreneurs Award
- Anne Marie Caulfield, Caulfield McCarthy Group
- Bernadette Gallagher, Pembase Holdings
- Caroline Keeling, Keelings
Public Sector Leaders Award
- Her Excellency, Anne Anderson, Irish ambassador to the United States
- Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan
- Louise Richardson, University of St Andrews (soon to be first ever female vice chancellor at Oxford University)
- Julie Sinnamon, Enterprise Ireland
Trailblazers Award
- Philomena Lee, The Philomena Project
- Judge Fidelma Macken, SC
- Joanne O’Riordan, youth campaigner
Arts & Culture
- Dorothy Cross, Kerlin Gallery
- Suzanne McAuley, Octagon Films
- Veronica Dunne, The Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition
Hall of Fame
- Cathriona Hallahan, Microsoft Ireland
- Ann Keenan, DCC plc
