Business & Finance has released its 2025 annual CEO 100 Index, recognising the leading chief executives in Ireland today, in association with KPMG.
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Eric Born, CEO
Grafton Group
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
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 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
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
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
Terry Clune, Founder & CEO
Clunetech
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
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 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
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
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
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 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
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
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
John Donohoe, Founder & Group CEO
Carne Group
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
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
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.
