By Business & Finance 
Business & Finance has released its 2025 annual CEO 100 Index, recognising the leading chief executives in Ireland today, in association with KPMG.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Eric Born, CEO
Grafton Group
Eric is the Chief Executive Officer of Grafton Group, a leading building materials distributor and DIY retailer with operations in the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe. He has over two decades of senior leadership experience and has consistently cultivated operations in a complex, multinational environment.
He has also previously held a number of high-profile CEO roles, including at Wincanton plc, one of the UK’s leading supply chain providers, and at Swissport International AG, the global leader in airport ground and cargo handling services. During his time at Swissport from 2015 to 2020, he oversaw operations in over 50 countries.
Anthony Brennan, CEO
Zurich
Anthony is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland. Having been with Zurich since 1985, Anthony has 30 years of 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, CEO
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.
Niall Browne, CEO
Dawn Meats
Niall graduated from the University of Limerick in 1995 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Studies, specialising in Marketing and Agribusiness. He began his career on the Dawn Meats Graduate Management Programme, gaining experience across five sites in Ireland and the UK in production, procurement, and marketing.
Appointed Chief Executive in 2007 at age 34, he now oversees operations across 23 production sites in Ireland and the UK, 10 international sales offices, and a team of over 7,000 employees. Under his leadership, the Group has expanded through strategic mergers and acquisitions, including a 2015 investment in Elivia, France’s second-largest beef processor, where he serves on the board.
JD Buckley, CEO
Sky Ireland
JD Buckley is the 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.
Keith Butler, CEO
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, CEO
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 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, CEO
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 an 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 euros 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, the UK and Ireland.
Liam Casey, Founder & CEO
PHC International
Liam Casey is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PCH International (PCH). Since founding PCH in 1996, he has dramatically shortened the time-to-market for the latest products through the company’s unique end-to-end integrated supply chain solution and grown the company to $710 million revenue with more than 5,000 employees. He is involved in numerous business initiatives on behalf of the Irish Government and was recently appointed International Start-up Ambassador to China by Enterprise Ireland. He is the recipient of awards including Entrepreneur of the Year (Ireland), Ernst & Young.
Terry Clune, Founder & CEO
Clunetech
Terry Clune is the 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.
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 at 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.
Phil Codd, Managing Director
Expleo
Phil Codd is Managing Director of Expleo Ireland, bringing over 35 years of experience in technology and business transformation consultancy. He leads the firm’s strategy and delivery of digital solutions to major Irish enterprises, with a strong focus on bridging critical skills gaps in IT and driving large-scale digital transformation.
Before joining Expleo, Phil served as Managing Director at the SQS Group, where he headed software testing and quality assurance services. In addition to his executive responsibilities, he contributes to the industry as a non-executive director for Showtime Analytics and as a board advisor for Ostia Software Solutions Ltd. Phil is also active in thought leadership, regularly contributing to industry insights and speaking on digital economy challenges in Ireland.
Lorna Conn, CEO
Cpl
Lorna Conn is CEO of Cpl, part of Tokyo’s 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 Master’s 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).
Aimee Connolly, Founder & CEO
Sculpted by Aimee
Aimee Connolly is the CEO and founder of Sculpted by Aimee, an Irish cosmetics company. Since launching Sculpted by Aimee in November 2016, Connolly has grown her company to have over 140 products and is available in over 590 shops across 9 countries. Connolly worked as a make-up artist and also undertook a Bachelor of Commerce International from UCD before launching her brand.
In 2024, Connolly led Sculpted by Aimee to a revenue of €22.23 million. Connolly has been recognised for her achievements through the IMAGE Beauty Entrepreneur of the Year, Young Businesswoman of the Year at the Image PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards and being named in the Irish Times ‘ 50 people to watch in 2021.
Aidan Corbett, Co-founder & CEO
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 optimise 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.
Sean Coyle, CEO
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 the Chief Financial Officer and an Executive Director of Aer Lingus plc. He also spent over ten years at 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.
Martin Corrigan
Dermot Crowley, CEO
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 Group’s response to the significant challenges presented by COVID-19.
Dermot has 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.
Eamonn Crowley, CEO
PTSB
Eamonn was appointed Chief Executive Officer of PTSB in June 2020. He joined PTSB in March 2017 as Chief Financial Officer and was subsequently 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.
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, 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).
Dr. Steve Cutler, CEO
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 the 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 Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Birmingham.
Tom Donnellan, CEO
Bord na Móna
Tom Donnellan has served as CEO of Bord na Móna since 2017. He began his career in 1989 as a Project Manager at Apple, before taking on senior roles including European Materials Director at Samsung Electronics, Chief Operating Officer at Packard Bell, and Vice President of Worldwide Operations. A graduate of CEDEP, Tom brings decades of global leadership experience in operations and strategy to his role at Bord na Móna.
John Donohoe, Founder & Group CEO
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 in 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 in July 2024, where she leads the sales, marketing, and services business across Ireland. In her new role, she is focused on driving digital transformation for both public and private sector organisations, leveraging innovative technologies such as AI and cloud computing to help efficiency and success. With a distinguished career spanning over two decades, Catherine has held various senior roles within the technology industry.
She served as Managing Director for Dell Technologies, 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 Doyle is a graduate of the University of Westminster and the Cranfield School of Management.
Fiona Dunlevy, CEO
Malin Corporation
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, CEO
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.
