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Business & Finance CEO 100 Index 2024 — Part 1

Business & Finance

Business & Finance has released the annual CEO 100 Index, recognising the leading chief executives operating in Ireland in 2024.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Eric Born, Chief Executive Officer,
Grafton Group

Eric Born joined the Grafton Group and the Board as Chief Executive Officer on 28 November 2022. Eric was previously Chief Executive Officer of Swissport International AG, the leading global aviation services provider, and Chief Executive of Wincanton plc, a leading provider of supply chain solutions. He was formerly President, West & South Europe of Gategroup, the global airline catering provider, and prior to that he held a variety of senior roles in the retail sector in Switzerland and the UK. He previously served as Non-Executive Director of Serco Group plc and John Menzies plc.

Anthony Brennan, Chief Executive Officer,
Zurich

Anthony is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland. Being with Zurich since 1985, Anthony has 30 years practical experience in managing Finance, IT and Operations in one of Ireland’s most successful life insurance companies. In July 2016 Anthony was appointed to the position of CEO, Zurich Ireland – responsible for both Life and General Insurance businesses in Ireland. As CEO, Anthony has been responsible for Zurich’s continued growth in Ireland and other key European markets including Germany and Italy.

Paul Brown, Chief Executive Officer,
John Sisk & Son

Paul is Chief Executive Officer of John Sisk & Son having previously been Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the UK construction and civils teams. He is also a Contractor Director on the Build UK board. Developed over 25 years in the civils’ industry, Paul has strong leadership skills enabling him to lead effective teams, develop strong and lasting customer relationships.

JD Buckley, Chief Executive Officer,
Sky Ireland

JD Buckley is Chief Executive Officer of Sky Ireland and has led the Irish business since 2012. JD is responsible for Sky’s consumer division, driving the growth of the overall business and leading a team of 1,000 employees in Ireland. Under JD’s leadership, the Sky Ireland business has doubled over the last 8 years with the launch of Sky Broadband, Sky Q, its streaming service, NOW, Sky Glass and, most recently, Sky Stream. JD is also a member of the Sky Group Executive. Prior to joining Sky, JD held senior roles with international mobile operator, Digicel, and was a strategy consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Michael Burke, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer,
Chanelle Pharma

Chanelle Pharma is Ireland’s largest manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals for human and animal health. It was founded in 1985 by Michael H Burke. A former vet, he started the business with just two employees. Chanelle Pharma now employs more than 640 people in Ireland, the UK, Portugal and Jordan. Headquartered in Loughrea, its four manufacturing and five R&D facilities all operate to the highest regulatory standards. Its global supply chain and distribution network exports to over 90 countries. Chanelle Pharma has ambitious plans to grow its business further and develop even bigger market share. Its winning formula is a result of its extensive product portfolio, talented people, great reputation and strong brand differentiation. These all testify to Michael H Burke’s ongoing and pioneering vision.

Keith Butler, Chief Executive Officer,
Emerald Airlines

Keith Butler is the CEO of Emerald Airlines.Since 2018, prior to joining Emerald Airlines, Butler held the position of Managing Director at CAE Parc Aviation, an Ireland-based, global market leader in the provision of aviation resourcing and technical services to airlines, business operators, leasing companies and aviation support organisations.Butler has extensive experience in the aviation industry, with over 15 years of experience in Senior Management roles. Prior to joining CAE Parc, Keith spent much of his career with Aer Lingus, where he held Senior Management positions across multiple functions including Commercial, Planning and HR including the role of Chief Planning & Strategy Officer.

Rory Byrne, Chief Executive Officer,
Dole Plc

Rory Byrne assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer of Dole plc on its formation on July 30th, 2021 having served as CEO of Total Produce plc since December 2006. Prior to this, Rory was the Managing Director of the Fyffes General Produce division from 2002 and was appointed to the position of Executive Director in 2006. Rory has extensive experience in the fresh produce industry, having joined Fyffes in 1988 and has held a number of senior positions within Fyffes including Finance Director of the Group’s UK business and Managing Director of its Spanish operations.

Eddie Byrne, Chief Executive Officer,
Irish Residential Properties REIT Plc

Eddie Byrne is the Chief Executive Officer and a Board Director of Irish Residential Properties REIT Plc (I-RES), the leading provider of professionally-managed private residential rental accommodation in Ireland. Eddie has over 20 years’ experience at executive level in the real estate sector. Most recently, he was Joint Managing Partner at Quintain Developments Ireland, where he co-established and built the company into Ireland’s largest private residential developer. Prior to that, he was Managing Director at Hudson Advisors Ireland, with responsibility for managing all of Lone Star Funds commercial property investments in Ireland, where he oversaw several billion euro of acquisitions and disposals of real estate assets. He was also Chief Portfolio Officer at Netherlands based Propertize where he had responsibility for a large property related portfolio across the Benelux countries and before that, worked in real estate, banking, and capital markets in North America, UK and Ireland.

Michael Carvill, Managing Director,
Kenmare Resources

Michael has been the Managing Director of Kenmare since 1986. He worked as a contracts engineer in Algeria and as a project engineer at Tara Mines, Ireland. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland (FIEI). He holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering (Queen’s University, Belfast) and an MBA (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania).

Liam Casey, Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
PCH International

Liam Casey is the founder and CEO of PCH International, a company that offers “end-to-end” services for hardware manufacturing in China. Since 1996, Casey has been facilitating hardware manufacturing for companies large and small in China, the world’s largest manufacturer of (and market for) electronics. With nine offices and 2,600 employees, PCH moves as many as 10 million products through the 1,200-plus factories in its network each day. Last year, the company’s revenue reached $1.1 billion. Casey himself didn’t know much about manufacturing when he began working in China in the ’90s, so he went to Taiwan and learned by watching. He landed early clients by finding ways to save them time. As PCH matured and its client portfolio grew, Casey raised venture capital and acquired a company called LimeLab to offer clients design and engineering services. He added PCH Access, a program that helps startups scale up their manufacturing capabilities. Casey’s next step is teaching Western clients some of the lessons PCH has learned from its proximity to Chinese companies, which Casey says are light-years ahead when it comes to the supply chain.

Leo Clancy, Chief Executive Officer,
Enterprise Ireland

Leo Clancy is the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Ireland, the state agency that helps Irish companies to start, grow, innovate and win export sales in global markets. Before being appointed as CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Leo led the Technology, Consumer and Business Services sector as well as IT, Marketing Communications and Corporate Services at IDA Ireland and was a member of the Executive Management team. In that role, Leo worked extensively with global technology and services companies invested in Ireland. Prior to his public sector career, Leo spent 17 years in the telecommunications industry, including in a number of management, technical and engineering roles. He was part of the senior leadership team at e|net, a high-growth Irish wholesale broadband provider and spent his early career at Ericsson, primarily working on global services for deployment of mobile and fixed networks. Leo is a frequent contributor to press interviews, conference speaking and blogs. On behalf of Enterprise Ireland, he is a member of a number of cross-departmental and cross-agency groups.

Terry Clune, Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Clunetech

Terry Clune is founder and CEO of CluneTech, a suite of software technology companies providing industry-leading solutions that simplify global business. As CEO, Terry oversees and steers the long-term growth of the group, which comprises TransferMate, Immedis, Taxback International, Taxback.com, Sprintax, Visa First, Benamic and Gradguide. One of Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurs, Terry is a past winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award and the HSBC European Entrepreneur of the Year award. He founded his first company, Taxback, in 1996 while studying economics in Trinity College, Dublin. In 2010, Terry established TransferMate, the largest company in the group’s portfolio and the world’s leading provider of B2B payments infrastructure as a service. TransferMate enables companies to send and receive cross-border payments faster, easier and at lower cost via connected API technology. The company completed a funding round in May 2022 to become Ireland’s seventh tech unicorn, with a $1BN valuation. CluneTech employs over 1,500 people and is headquartered in Kilkenny, with 35 offices worldwide.

Lorna Conn, Chief Executive Officer,
Cpl

Lorna Conn is CEO of Cpl, part of Tokyo’s headquartered Outsourcing Inc. Lorna is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Bord na Móna plc and Glenveagh Properties plc. Lorna is also an Advisory Board member of Ireland’s 30% Club and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Lorna is a Chartered Director and a qualified Chartered Accountant, having trained with Deloitte. Lorna holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin and a Masters in Accounting from the Michael Smurfit Business School (Lorna has previously held senior roles in a number of public companies, residing in both Ireland and America during this time).

Aidan Corbett, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Wayflyer

Aidan Corbett is the CEO of Wayflyer. He started his entrepreneurial journey during his MBA at London Business School, where he developed his coding skills and observed the need for online Excel and PowerPoint training for business professionals. This led to the creation of his first startup, Kubicle, which provided online training and eventually grew to over $1M in revenue. He then co-founded Conjura, a company that helps e-commerce companies optimize their digital spend on revenue. Throughout his career, Aidan has demonstrated his ability to drive innovation and growth, and has also benefited from coaching, which has improved his personal and professional life.

Martin Corrigan, Group Chief Executive Officer,
EirGrid Plc

An accomplished senior executive with over 25 years’ experience of operating at Executive and Board level in fast paced and complex organisations; Martin is experienced in developing and implementing corporate strategies, designing and implementing risk and governance frameworks, financial management, merger & acquisitions, conducting efficiency reviews and possessing strong commercial acumen and risk awareness. A strong leader and effective people manager with a persuasive communication style experienced in leading functional and cross functional teams and being a catalyst for cultural change.

Seán Coyle, Group Chief Executive Officer,
Origin Enterprises

Sean Coyle was appointed Group CEO of Origin Enterprises on 1 July 2020. Sean joined Origin in September 2018 as Chief Financial Officer and was appointed to the Board as an Executive Director in October 2018. Sean was previously Group Finance Director of UDG Healthcare plc and also served as Managing Director of UDG’s Healthcare Supply Chain Division. Prior to UDG, Sean was Chief Financial Officer and an Executive Director of Aer Lingus plc. He also spent over ten years in Ryanair Holdings plc, where he held a number of senior management positions. Sean is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and completed his training with KPMG following his graduation from Trinity College Dublin.

Eamonn Crowley, Chief Executive Officer, 
Permanent TSB

Eamonn was appointed Chief Executive Officer of PTSB in June 2020. He joined PTSB in March 2017 as Chief Financial Officer and he was appointed to the PTSB Board as Executive Director. Prior to joining PTSB he was Chief Financial Officer at Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. (“BZ WBK”), Banco Santander’s publicly listed Polish retail and commercial bank. (BZ WBK was formerly 70% owned by AIB. Banco Santander acquired that AIB stake in 2010). During his period as CFO, Eamonn executed the merger of BZ WBK with Kredyt Bank to form Poland’s number three bank, placed over 20% of the bank on the Warsaw Stock Exchange through a Euro 1.2bn secondary IPO and led the acquisition of a controlling stake in Poland’s number one Consumer Bank. Prior to joining Santander, Eamonn worked for the AIB Group in a variety of leadership roles. He has successfully completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, he holds an MBA from University College Dublin and is a Qualified Accountant. He currently serves as a Board member of the Irish Banking Culture Board and the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. He served as President of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland (2022/2023)

Dermot Crowley, Chief Executive Officer,
Dalata

Dermot joined Dalata in 2012 as Deputy CEO – Business Development & Finance. He played a key role in the flotation of Dalata in 2014 and led the transformational acquisition of the Moran Bewley Hotel Group in 2015. In his role as Deputy CEO, Dermot oversaw the expansion of the Group across Ireland and the UK and more recently, the response of the Group to the significant challenges presented by the Covid 19. Has demonstrated in the past an ability to secure, restructure and manage company funding requirements in challenging circumstances. Dermot has an In depth knowledge and significant experience of the UK and Irish hotel industries, having worked previously as Head of Development of Jurys Doyle Hotel Group and as a Hotel Financial Controller within Forte Hotels. Dermot has also previously worked with PwC, Procter & Gamble, Renault and Ion Equity.

Dr Steve Cutler, Chief Executive Officer,
ICON Plc

Dr Steve Cutler was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ICON plc in March 2017, having previously served as Chief Operating Officer for three years. Dr Cutler joined ICON as Group President, Clinical Research Services in 2011 and has been a member of the board since November 2015.

As CEO, Dr Cutler has overseen a period of significant progress for ICON, driven by both strong organic growth and a number of strategic acquisitions, including PRA Health Sciences in 2021. ICON is now the world’s leading clinical research organisation, powered by healthcare intelligence, and employs approximately 40,500 people in over 50 countries.

Throughout his career in the clinical research and pharmaceutical industries, Dr Cutler has held numerous senior leadership positions. These include Chief Executive Officer of Kendle, Senior Vice President, Global Project Management at Quintiles (now IQVIA) and Senior Vice President, Clinical, Medical and Regulatory, also at Quintiles. Prior to joining Quintiles, Dr Cutler worked with Sandoz (now Novartis) in Australia and Europe. He holds a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Birmingham (UK).

John Donohoe, Founder & Group Chief Executive Officer,
Carne Group

John Donohoe is the Founder & Group CEO of Carne Group and has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry. Founded in 2004, Carne Group is an international company that has established itself as an expert and pioneer in fund regulation and governance solutions, allowing it to become Europe’s leading third-party management company and trusted partner to the fund management industry. Carne works with more than 650 clients – from boutique fund managers to global institutional investors – supporting funds distributed in over 160 countries and overseeing more than $2 trillion assets under management. Carne employs more than 600 employees worldwide. Alongside his work at Carne, John sits on and chairs the boards of some of the largest and most complex mutual and hedge funds. Prior to establishing Carne, he was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank for 12 years, serving as an executive/non-executive director on various Deutsche Bank boards and rising to become CEO of Europe, Asia and offshore. In 2011, John co-founded Funds Congress, which is now the largest complementary asset management conference in the world. He is a recognised industry expert and a regular speaker at international industry conferences.

Catherine Doyle, General Manager 
Microsoft Ireland

Catherine Doyle joined Microsoft Ireland as General Manager on the 1st of July where she leads the sales, marketing, and services business across the island of Ireland. In her new role, Catherine is focused on driving digital transformation for both public and private sector organisations, leveraging innovative technologies such as AI and cloud computing to help them achieve greater efficiency and success. With a distinguished career spanning over two decades, Catherine has held various senior roles within the technology industry. Before her current position at Microsoft, she served as Managing Director for Dell Technologies in Ireland, overseeing the commercial and enterprise businesses in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Her tenure at Dell Technologies was marked by significant contributions to the company’s growth and market share, particularly in the EMEA Software Sales Division and the Strategic Outsourcers team. Catherine’s vision for Microsoft Ireland is centred on empowering organisations to embrace digital innovation and to harness the power of technology to realise their full potential. Her commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion, innovation, and social responsibility aligns with Microsoft’s mission of empowering every person on the planet to achieve more. Outside of her professional life, Catherine resides in County Kildare with her husband, Stuart, and their two children, Hannah and Kyran. She is an enthusiast of the outdoors, enjoying hiking and traveling, and she values spending quality time with friends and family.

Fiona Dunlevy, Chief Executive Officer,
Malin Corp.

Fiona has served as Company Secretary of Malin since September 2018 and Executive Director since 2023, prior to which she was Head of Tax from 2015. Before joining Malin, Fiona worked at Elan Corporation plc and with Deloitte’s international tax group in Dublin and New York. She is an associate of the Irish Taxation Institute and of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Eric Eichmann,  Chief Executive Officer,
ESW

Eric Eichmann is a seasoned executive with over two decades of experience in technology and e-commerce. He currently serves as the CEO of ESW, a global e-commerce provider, a position he assumed in July 2023. Prior to joining ESW, Eichmann held various leadership roles, including CEO of Spark Networks, an online dating company, and CEO of Criteo, a commerce marketing firm. His extensive career also includes stints as Chief Operating Officer at Living Social, Chief Operating Officer at Rosetta Stone, Senior Vice President of Ad Operations and Technology at AOL, and a Senior Manager at McKinsey & Co. Throughout his career, Eichmann has demonstrated a strong ability to drive growth, innovation, and operational excellence, making him a respected figure in the e-commerce and technology industries.

Robert Finnegan, Chief Executive Officer,
3 Ireland

 Robert Finnegan has been Three Ireland’s CEO since the company’s launch in 2005 and in addition to this role, became CEO of Three UK in April 2020.

Three Ireland & Three UK are owned by renowned multinational conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, which is committed to innovation and technology with diverse businesses employing over 300,000 people in 50 countries across the world.

In Ireland, Three is the largest mobile telecommunications provider with 46.5% market share, has the fastest 4G & 5G networks and delivers excellent customer service from its award-winning Customer Experience Centre in Limerick. In the UK, Three has a 12% market share within the overall retail mobile service market, yet carries 34% of the UK’s mobile data, with its customers using 2.4 times more data than the UK average.

As CEO of Three in both countries, Robert is committed to providing its customers with a better connected life through meaningful products, best in class service and a connected network experience. Robert worked for CK Hutchison (formerly Hutchison Whampoa) in Hong Kong for thirteen years before he joined Three Ireland. There he served as CEO of its beverage division, Watson’s, where he strategically led the development of its water business in China and Europe, building it to market leader position. He also initiated and led the divestiture of Powwow to Nestle for US$545m

Gareth Fleming, Managing Director,
Brightwater

Gareth Fleming – Managing Director, Brightwater Group, Building the Future of Recruitment. Gareth Fleming, a recruitment leader with over 18 years of experience in the IT and technology space, steers Brightwater Group, a multi-brand recruitment platform. Brightwater encompasses 5 brands specialized in recruitment for Professional Services & IT/Life Sciences (Brightwater Recruitment), C-Suite & Senior Leadership (Brightwater Exec), Marketing (Alternatives), Actuarial (Raretec), and Mentorship Services (Mentors). Gareth’s expertise extends beyond borders. He’s built a strong reputation for Brightwater, securing placements in diverse sectors like Fintech, startups, and major financial institutions (Sovereign Wealth Funds, Retail & Investment Banks, Hedge Funds) across Ireland, USA, Middle East, and London. Beyond his hands-on role in recruitment, Gareth drives Brightwater Group’s strategic growth and oversees profitability. He champions continuous training for his team, ensuring best-in-class processes throughout the organization. A thought leader in the recruitment industry, Gareth regularly contributes to industry roundtables and discussions. He also serves as a Board member and advisor to a thriving tech scale-up company.

Peter Foley, Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
LetsGetChecked

Peter Foley is the CEO and Founder of LetsGetChecked, a global healthcare solutions company that provides the tools to manage health from home through direct access to diagnostic testing, virtual care, and medication delivery for a wide range of health and wellness conditions.

Peter has always been passionate about making healthcare patient-led, and allowing consumers to be part of the diagnostic testing process and not once removed. What sparked the idea for LetsGetChecked was a personal experience which resulted in Peter not having access to diagnostic testing in a time of need.

Prior to LetsGetChecked, Foley worked in a number of consultancy roles, specializing in the fields of healthcare strategy, planning, and facility development, as well as completing a law degree and masters qualification in ICD-10 codin The purpose of the company is to give people the knowledge that they need to live healthier, happier lives.

Business & Finance CEO 100 (alphabetical by surname):

View part one (B–F)

View part two (F–K)

View part three (K–N)

View part four (N–V)

 

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