Business & Finance has released the annual CEO 100 Index, recognising the leading chief executives operating in Ireland in 2023.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Gene Murtagh, Group Chief Executive Officer,
Kingspan Group
Gene Murtagh is the Group Chief Executive of Kingspan Group. He was appointed to the Board in 1999. He was previously the Chief Operating Officer from 2003 to 2005. Prior to that he was managing director of the Group’s Insulated Panel business and of the Environmental business. He joined the Group in 1993, and has a deep knowledge of all of the Group’s businesses and wider building materials and energy efficiency industries.
Liam Nagle, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer,
Norbrook Laboratories Ltd.
Liam joined Norbrook in February 2015 as Chief Executive Officer. Since joining Norbrook, Liam has strengthened the Leadership Team and implemented a 5-year strategic plan driving year-on-year growth. Liam was appointed Chairman & CEO in August 2019. Liam has more than 30 years’ international business experience in finance, operations, marketing as well as mergers and acquisitions and has held senior roles in a range of industries throughout his career. Prior to joining Norbrook, Liam was Chairman of SISK Group’s construction and healthcare businesses from 2014 to 2015, having previously held the position of Chief Executive of SISK Group from 2008-2014. In 2003 Liam became Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Bookham Technology, where he was appointed President and Chief Operations Officer in 2004. Prior to this, Liam was a senior executive at Intel from 1994 to 1997 and led the start up for Bay Networks Europe as Vice-President of Operations from 1997-1998. When Nortel Networks acquired Bay Networks in 1998, he held a number of senior roles in Nortel.
Tony Neary, VP and GM, Medtronic Galway Shared Site,
Medtronic
Tony Neary is VP of EMEA Operations and General Manager at Medtronic in Galway, and has been in this role since 2015. Previously, he was Senior Director of Operations from 2013 to 2015, and Program Director from 1994 to 2013.
Klair Neenan, Director,
SSE Aistricity
Klair Neenan is Director of SSE Airtricity. She is a highly experienced leader of diverse teams across multiple sectors and disciplines. She is the winner of Women in IT Excellence, London, and has delivered a large portfolio of projects across digital, data and transformation.
Amanda Nelson, Chief Executive Officer, & Chair
Vodafone Ireland
Amanda Nelson has been with Vodafone for almost 25 years in various roles beginning in Asia in 1998 with Vodafone Japan, before moving to Europe to lead operations in the Netherlands, Malta and most recently Hungary, where she was CEO and Chair since 2018. Amanda has driven digital innovation throughout her career through IT integration and transformation initiatives across the business. As a passionate advocate of diversity & inclusion programmes, Amanda strongly supports talent initiatives across Vodafone’s EU markets. During her eight years at Vodafone Netherlands, Amanda held roles as Regional Finance Executive, Head of Finance Operations and then Marketing Director. After which she took up the role of CEO and Chair of Vodafone Malta in 2013. Most recently as CEO of Vodafone Hungary, Amanda led digital change in the education and healthcare sector throughout the pandemic, enabling customers to adapt and thrive in response to their changing circumstances and needs. Under her tenure, 5G was rolled out in Budapest and other densely populated areas of the country. Born in England, Amanda achieved a first-class honours degree in Classical Studies from the University of Bristol and has four teenage children with her husband Mark. She is a keen outdoor and adventure sport enthusiast and enjoys getting involved in her local community.
Niall Norton, Chief Executive Officer,
Openet
Niall joined Openet in March 2004 as CFO before becoming CEO in 2006. A winner of the European Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012 and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011, Niall was voted by Telecoms Business Review as one of the Top 100 most influential people in global telecoms in 2017. He previously served as CFO of O2 Ireland from 2001 to 2004.
Tom O’Brien, Managing Director,
Nephin Energy
Mark O’Donnell, Managing Partner,
Odgers Berndtson
Mark is Managing Partner of Odgers Berndtson in Ireland.
He specialises in high-level executive searches and appointments of senior management appointments from Head of Function to Board level across a range of industries and functions. He is particularly focused on assisting clients in the Consumer, Financial Services, Technology, Arts and Sports sectors. He is considered a leading consultant in the recruitment of all C suite positions in particular CEO, CFO, HRD, Marketing and Commercial Directors. Additionally, Mark leads our assessment practice where he is passionate about assisting clients to assess and develop their talent.
Mark began his career in Financial Services working with Global Asset Management in Dublin and Schroders Investment Bank in Australia. Prior to joining Odgers Berndtson, Mark was a Director in the Consulting arm of KPMG and subsequently joined the Consulting Division of Deloitte as Director where he focused on Strategy, Operations and Human Capital. Mark holds an honours degree in HRM and Accountancy while also holding Diplomas in Coaching, Learning and Development and Workplace Psychology. Mark is a certified Level A and B BPS practitioner. He has had a book on Succession Planning published and is a regular speaker at conferences as well as being a guest lecturer in University College Dublin’s Michael Smurfit Business School.
Tomás O’Midheach, Chief Executive Officer,
FBD Holdings
Tomás Ó’Midheach has 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry spanning many diverse areas including finance, data, customer analytics, direct channels and digital. He spent 11 years with Citibank in the UK, Spain and Dublin where he held several senior positions in Finance ultimately assuming the position of CFO at Citibank Ireland. He joined AIB in June 2006 and held a number of senior executive positions including Head of Direct Channels & Analytics, Chief Digital Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining FBD, Mr. Ó’Midheach held the position Deputy CEO and was an Executive Board Member of AIB.
Tony O’Reilly, Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
dCarbonX
Tony O’Reilly is CEO and a Founder of dCarbonX. A graduate of Brown University, Tony has 30 years C-suite experience ranging from large, multi-site international businesses to start-ups in industries ranging from oil and gas exploration to mining, to consumer media and luxury goods, to environmental technology and financial services. As founder and CEO of Providence Resources Plc, Tony led the Company into major commercial transactions with leading energy players including ExxonMobil, Eni, Petronas, Total, Chevron and Chrysaor. Prior to Providence, Tony was the CEO of Wedgwood and prior to that was Chairman and CEO of ARCON. Tony was also co-founder of two start-ups, Zenergy and Lockwood, which were respectively involved in high temperature superconductivity (HTS) technology and funds management.
John Power, Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Aerogen
Mary Quaney, Group Chief Executive Officer,
Mainstream Renewable Power
Mary was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in August 2020. She joined Mainstream in 2009 and she held the role of Group Chief Financial Officer since 2017. Mary has graduate and post-graduate qualifications from UCD and is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). She is an advocate and spokesperson on gender diversity and participated as a mentor for the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) Women in Wind programme in 2019. Prior to joining Mainstream, Mary held senior-level positions in finance and corporate tax in PricewaterhouseCoopers and Trinity Biotech Plc.
Ger Rabette, Chief Executive Officer,
Uniphar
An industry veteran, Ger joined Uniphar from Celesio, where he was Managing Director of Movianto and Head of Celesio Manufacturing Solutions. He is a Chartered Accountant by training and has held a range of senior positions in supply chain with Cahill May Roberts and the wider Celesio Group. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2010.
Mark Roden, Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Ding
Eamonn Rothwell, Chief Executive Officer,
Irish Contintental Group
Eamonn Rothwell, aged 66, has been a Director for 35 years having been appointed as a non-executive Director in 1987 and subsequently to the position of Chief Executive Officer in 1992. He is also a Director of Interferry European Office A.I.S.B.L. He is a former Director of The United Kingdom Mutual War Risks Association Limited, Interferry Inc and The United Kingdom Mutual Steam Ship Assurance Association (Bermuda) Limited. He is a past executive Director of former stockbrokers NCB Group, now part of Tilman Brewin Dolphin. Prior to that, he worked with Allied Irish Banks plc and Fáilte Ireland (The Irish Tourist Board).
Edmond Scanlon, Chief Executive Officer,
Kerry Group
Anne Sheehan, General Manager,
Microsoft Ireland
Gavin Slark, Chief Executive Officer & Board Director,
Grafton Group Plc
Gavin Slark joined Grafton Group and the Board as Chief Executive Designate on 1 April 2011 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer on 1 July 2011. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Galliford Try Holdings plc, a UK housebuilding and construction group. He was previously Group Chief Executive of BSS Group plc, a leading UK distributor to specialist trades including the plumbing, heating and construction sectors.
Tony Smurfit, Group Chief Executive Officer,
Smurfit Kappa
Tony Smurfit is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Smurfit Kappa Group plc (SKG), one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging solutions in the world.
He was Chief Operations Officer from November 2002 to September 2015 and he has held a number of other management positions having worked in various parts of the organisation both in the United States and Europe since he joined the company in 1986. He was elected to the Board of Directors in 1989.
Today Smurfit Kappa operates in 36 countries globally and employs 48,000 people. The company is currently listed on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges and has a market capitalisation of approximately €11.7 billion.
He was born in Wigan, England in 1963 and following his early schooling in Ireland, he attended the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania where he graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Management Science.
He is a former Director of Aer Rianta (the Irish Airport Authority which is owned by the Irish Government), the Irish National Stud (an Irish Government owned operation), C&C plc, Ibec (Irish Business Employers Confederation) and currently sits on the Board of ERT (European Round Table of Industry), and CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries).
He was appointed Honorary Consul of Mexico to Ireland in 2003 and was honoured by the French Government in 2004 when he was nominated Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour. He was subsequently nominated Commander of the French Legion of Honour in 2017. He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration and is a member of the Turf Club of Ireland.
He is married to Sharon and they have 4 children.
Susan Spence, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Softco
Susan Spence is Co-Founder and CEO of Softco, a global developer of financial process automation software that increases productivity, reduces costs, and ensures that organisations meet compliance obligations. Susan has served as Executive Chairman of Softco since 1990. Headquartered in Dublin, SoftCo has offices in the USA, Ireland, the UK, and Finland. Softco is a Microsoft Gold Partner and it has one million global users across all industry sectors. On Susan’s initiative, SoftCo sponsored the Irish women’s hockey team that won silver in the World Cup in the summer of 2018. Before co-founding SoftCo, Susan held senior management positions with Hewlett Packard, McDonnell Douglas, and Phillips BV.
Michael Stanley, Chief Executive Officer,
Cairn Homes Plc
Margaret Sweeney, Chief Executive Officer & Board Director,
Irish Residential Properties REIT Plc
Margaret Sweeney is the Chief Executive Officer and a Board Director of Irish Residential Properties REIT Plc (I-RES). I-RES is the leading provider of professionally-managed private residential rental accommodation in Ireland. With a portfolio of c.4,000 homes, the company delivers high-quality living accommodation and service in well-connected, family-friendly urban communities. I-RES is a fully integrated Irish operating company with some 100 employees, and a strong ESG focus. The company is a long-term investor in the Irish residential market, with shares listed on the Euronext Dublin Stock Exchange.
Margaret is currently a non-executive director on the board of Bank of Ireland Group Plc and was previously a non-executive director of Dalata Hotel Group plc and Chair of the board of Irish Institutional Property, real estate association. A Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and a Chartered Director, she is also the Chair of the Industry Advisory Board and an Adjunct Professor at Dublin City University (DCU) Business School. Margaret is a Past President of Dublin Chamber of Commerce and previously held the position of Chief Executive Officer of daa Plc (Dublin Airport Authority) and Postbank Ireland Ltd.
Margaret has a wide range of personal and professional interests, particularly relating to sustainability and the development of women leaders.
Siobhán Talbot, Group Managing Director and Executive Director,
Glanbia Plc
Siobhán Talbot was appointed as Group Managing Director of Glanbia on 12 November 2013, having been appointed Group Managing Director Designate on 1 June 2013. She was previously Group Finance Director and her role encompassed responsibility for Group strategic planning. She has been a member of the Group Operating Executive since 2000 and the Board since 2009 and has held a number of senior positions since she joined the Group in 1992. She is also a Director of the Irish Business Employers’ Confederation (IBEC) and was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of CRH plc effective 1 December 2018. Prior to joining Glanbia, she worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin and Sydney. A Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, Siobhán graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and Diploma in Professional Accounting. She is Non-Executive Director of CRH plc and Director of the Irish Business Employers’ Confederation (IBEC).
Laura Trimble, Chief Executive Officer & Head of Wholesale Banking,
HSBC Ireland
Laura joined HSBC Ireland in May 2022 as CEO and Head of Wholesale Banking, following a 20-year career with HSBC based in London. Laura is responsible for all of HSBC’s operations in Ireland, which encompass a corporate banking business that supports Irish corporates with their local and international operations, as well as a subsidiary banking business that provides transactional banking services such as trade finance and cash management solutions to global multinationals with operations in Ireland. HSBC also has a large securities services business in Ireland supporting asset managers with fund administration, custody and fiduciary services.
Prior to joining HSBC Ireland, Laura worked for HSBC in various senior roles in the UK and Europe, most recently as European Head of HSBC’s Origination business. In this role, she was responsible for advising clients on all aspects of their strategic financing needs, including structuring their capital base appropriately via debt and equity solutions and advising on strategic events such as acquisition financing, capital markets activity and initial public offerings. This role included coverage of HSBC’s corporate clients in 22 countries including Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel and South Africa, supported by a team based in London, Paris, Frankfurt and India. Laura has an extensive investment banking and commercial banking background with prior roles in leveraged finance, investment grade debt, convertible bonds and equity capital markets.
Over the last decade Laura has played a leading role in driving HSBC’s activities to provide an inclusive environment for all colleagues. For example, in 2020 she founded HSBC’s European Shadow ExCo, a development programme for colleagues to work with senior leaders on business challenges such as sustainability, the future of work, and Europe’s position as an international connector. She also co-founded HSBC’s “Inclusive Europe” employee resource group in 2021, which leads activities to promote cultural diversity and to ensure colleagues supporting inclusivity are recognised and rewarded.
Fernando Vicario, Chief Executive Officer,
Bank of America Europe DAC
Business & Finance CEO 100 (alphabetical by surname):
View part one (A–F)
View part two (F–K)
View part three (K–M)
View part four (M–V)
