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
Paul Kelly, CEO
RDS
Paul Kelly has been announced as the new Chief Executive of the Royal Dublin Society, effective September 2025. Previously he was CEO of Fáilte Ireland, a position he had held since 2017. Paul led Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, through the deepest crisis ever for our country’s tourism industry.
Paul’s leadership led Fáilte Ireland to be listed in the top 20 best large organisations to work in for three consecutive years and listed in the top 5 most trusted organisations in the country. In 2020, Paul was named Ireland’s Most Trusted Leader by Great Places to Work. Paul was also awarded the 2024 Global Tourism Ambassador Award from Destinations International, which celebrates those who have transformed their destinations and have made a profound impact on the broader travel and tourism industry.
Paul Kelly is a native of Co. Wexford and a Commerce graduate from University College Dublin.
Dave Kirwan, Managing Director
Bord Gáis Energy
Dave Kirwan is Managing Director of Bord Gáis Energy. Dave returned to the role of MD in Summer 2020, having completed a successful term in the UK as Managing Director of the UK Customer Operations and latterly MD of the UK Home business.
Dave was responsible for leading the Bord Gáis Energy business through the successful sale to Centrica in 2014, and prior to that, had worked in Bord Gáis Éireann for 15 years. He was responsible for the launch of its Northern Ireland business, Firmus Energy, the development of the Whitegate power station and the acquisition and subsequent merger of the SWS wind business. Prior to joining Bord Gáis Energy, Dave worked in the power generation sector for ESB/ESBI in Ireland, the US and Vietnam.
Dave holds a BE Electronics from UCD and is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland. He also holds an MBA from UCC and a doctorate in business economics (DBA) from UCC. Dave also serves on the Centrica Group Executive Committee.
Mark Lee, CEO
Sysco Ireland
Mark is the Chief Executive Officer at Sysco Ireland. He has overall responsibility for all Sysco activities on the Island of Ireland. Mark joined Sysco Ireland as the Commercial Director in 2018 and previously held several executive-level positions with Compass Ireland, including Commercial Director, Customer Retention Director and Marketing Director. He started his career in the marketing department of the Guinness Ireland Group in 1996 before moving to O2 and subsequently Eircom in 2003. He then joined sports management agency Platinum-One, where Ryder Cup 2006 Ltd and the European Tour were his primary clients.
Mark holds a B.Sc. Mgmt from Trinity College Dublin and an Advanced Diploma in Marketing Techniques from the Dublin Institute of Technology.
Carolan Lennon, Country leader
Salesforce
Carolan Lennon is the CEO of Salesforce Ireland. She joined the company in July 2022, replacing Dr. David Dempsey, who led Salesforce Ireland for 22 years. Prior to joining Salesforce, Carolan served as the CEO of eir, a telco company, from 2018. She was the first female CEO of eir and played a significant role in the company’s growth. Before becoming the CEO of eir, Carolan held various senior roles within the company. She has also worked at Vodafone Ireland.
Michael Lohan, CEO
IDA Ireland
Michael Lohan is CEO of IDA Ireland, a role he has held since 17th April 2023. IDA Ireland is the Irish national investment development agency responsible for attracting multinationals and high-growth scale-ups. Michael is a board member of IDA Ireland and Chairman of IDA Ireland’s Investment Committee.
Prior to this role, Michael was a member of IDA’s Executive Leadership team with global responsibility for Life Sciences and as organisational lead on the Talent, Transformation and Innovation agenda. Michael joined IDA Ireland in 2003 and has held various management positions across multiple functions. He has represented IDA Ireland in several fora, including as Board member of Digital Manufacturing Ireland, as governance member of the SSPC research centre for pharmaceuticals and also The Irish Medical Device Association.
Before joining IDA Ireland in 2003, Michael worked in the private sector in companies such as Nortel and IEC Electronics.
Michael is an engineer with an MSc in Technology Management from the University of Galway in Ireland and is a graduate of the Berkley Executive Programme.
Alice Mansergh, CEO
Tourism Ireland
Alice has almost 20 years of strategic leadership experience, specialising in leading international marketing teams, consumer brand engagement strategies and corporate responsibility. A skilled communicator and partner to public and private enterprises, Alice has wide experience working with travel industry partners and has served on the board of Fáilte Ireland for the past five years.
Prior to that, Alice worked for Google in 2004 and has served in senior roles, including as Head of Operations for UK & Ireland; Head of B2B Customer Marketing, EMEA; Head of Chrome Marketing, Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Director of Consumer Marketing, UK. Alice has led Google’s international marketing teams, promoting consumer brands and developing multi-award-winning creative campaigns for TV, outdoor and digital media in key markets, including the UK, France, Germany and the Middle East.
T.J. Malone, CEO
NBI
T.J. Malone is the Chief Executive Officer of National Broadband Ireland (NBI), where he is responsible for overseeing the nationwide rollout and long-term operation of Ireland’s high-speed fibre broadband network — the largest infrastructure investment in rural Ireland since rural electrification.
T.J. joined NBI in 2019 as CEO of NBI Deployment, leading the design and build of the network from the ground up. He brings over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications sector, having previously served as CEO of Actavo Network & In-Home and as General Manager for Public Access at Esat Telecom.
Cathal Marley, Chief Executive Officer
EirGrid plc
Cathal Marley has been appointed as EirGrid plc’s new CEO in March 2025. Cathal began his career as a Senior Manager in Internal Audit in 1989 at EY, where he managed international companies such as Coca-Cola, IKEA, and Whirlpool.
Throughout his career, Cathal has held key leadership roles, including Head of Group Treasury & Investor Relations at ESB and Group CFO at Ervia. He now serves as CEO of EirGrid and sits on the Board of Gas Networks Ireland.
Cathal is a graduate from the Michael Smurfit Business School, where he was awarded an MBA in 2003. He is also a graduate from the Fellow Institute of Chartered Accountants, where he studied between 1989 and 1992.
Geoff Martha, CEO
Medtronic
Geoff Martha is Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, one of the world’s largest medical technology companies. He joined Medtronic in 2011. In 2015, he led the $43 billion acquisition of Covidien, nearly doubling Medtronic’s size, in what became the largest deal in the medical technology industry.
He became CEO in April 2020 and Chairman in 2021. Under his leadership, Medtronic has expanded its focus on innovation, including advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and remote care technologies. Before joining Medtronic, Martha spent nearly two decades at GE in various leadership roles across GE Capital and GE Healthcare. He holds a degree in finance from Penn State University.
Conor McCarthy, Founder & CEO
Flipdish
Conor McCarthy is CEO and Co-Founder of Flipdish, an online ordering system for restaurants founded in 2015. Headquartered in Dublin, Flipdish helps thousands of hospitality brands in over 12 countries. Conor previously co-founded Switch Poker in 2010, the first poker site compatible with iPhone and iPad. He was the CEO of SawadeeSoft Limited, the company that managed the software for Switch Poker for 5 years.
Conor is a graduate of Maynooth University, achieving a Master of Science in Software Development in 2008. Before these studies, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Technological University Dublin in 2004. During his time in college, Conor founded HandHQ.com, an online poker data-mining service, which was later sold in 2014.
Peter McCarthy, CEO
Speed Fibre Group
Peter McCarthy is the CEO of Speed Fibre Group. He has over 30 years of experience with companies like Actavo, Thornsett, Digicel and Accenture, amongst others and has considerable knowledge in the areas of telecoms (fixed and mobile), utility services, real estate, renewable energy and consumer-facing digital technology.
Peter has a demonstrable track record in managing, transforming and growing a diverse number of businesses, and now, as Group CEO, has overall responsibility for all Enet business activity, including business strategy and operations.
Ryan McCarthy, Managing Partner in Ireland
KPMG
Ryan is the Managing Partner of KPMG. Prior to this, Ryan advised Ireland’s leading private, listed, and state-owned companies. He led the Consumer and Industrial Markets audit practice, working with clients across the retail & manufacturing and energy, renewables & utilities sector . Ryan led the firm’s Board Leadership Centre, a forum developed to support directors in exploring critical boardroom challenges and helping them to drive their board’s agenda. He also co-led the firm’s Private Enterprise practice, until 2019.
Danny McCoy, CEO
Ibec
Danny McCoy has been the Chief Executive Officer of Ibec since 2009. Ibec is Ireland’s largest business representative organisation and the country’s largest lobbying group. It has over 300 staff in ten locations and has 39 trade association brands and a substantial presence within the European Union through Ibec’s Brussels office. Prior to joining Ibec, Danny was a senior economist at both the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the Central Bank of Ireland in Dublin. He has held lecturing posts at Dublin City University, University College London, University of Oxford, and Trinity College Dublin.
He has been a consultant for the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He has been a member of the Irish National Competitiveness Council, the National Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Taxation and the National Training Agency. He led a European Macroeconomic Forecasting Network for the European Commission of eleven national research institutes. He is a former President of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland, an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Engineers, a member of the Trade and Investment Council, the Executive Bureau of BusinessEurope, a member of MaREI, a founder of ChapterZero Ireland and a member of the Government’s Balance for Better Business Group, an Independent Non-Executive of Iput Real Estate.
His academic work in the early 1990s covered carbon taxation and Sustainable Development, for which he received an Economic scholarship and the Barrington Medal for researchers under 30. He was knighted by the Italian Government in 2022 for services to European business and the economy. He is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy, Ireland’s highest academic honour.
Rosheen McGuckian, CEO
NTR
Rosheen was appointed Chief Executive Officer of NTR plc in April 2013. Since joining NTR in 2008, Rosheen has held a number of leadership positions in NTR, including most recently as Group Business Development Director and CEO positions in solar development, energy storage, water treatment and waste management platforms within the group.
Prior to joining NTR, Rosheen was CEO of GE Money Ireland, the consumer finance division of General Electric. Prior to that, Rosheen led the business transformation initiative for Irish utility ESB Power Generation.
Rosheen is the Director of Grafton Group plc and construction group Sisk. Rosheen was recently voted as one of the Top 25 in the Global Women’s Power List and Top 50 in the Global Green Fund Power List. She holds a PhD and MA from Dublin City University and a BSc from Trinity College Dublin.
Hugh McGuire, Group Managing Director & CEO
Glanbia plc
Hugh McGuire is CEO of Glanbia plc. He has held a range of senior leadership roles across the group during his career with the company, initially working in the ingredients division, culminating in his role as CEO of Glanbia Customised Solutions, where he led the development of the global vitamin and mineral premix business. More recently, he served as CEO of Glanbia Performance Nutrition, overseeing the growth of Glanbia’s branded business to become the world’s number one sports nutrition business, with the flagship Optimum Nutrition brand becoming a billion-dollar brand in 2023.
Hugh has been a member of Glanbia’s Operating Executive since 2013. Prior to joining Glanbia in 2003, Hugh worked for McKinsey & Company as a consultant across a range of industry sectors. He has also held marketing and commercial roles with Nestle and Leaf. He holds an M.Sc. in Food Science from University College Dublin and has a Diploma in Accounting and Finance from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Ireland.
Tina McKenzie, CEO
Staffline Ireland
After graduating from Ulster University, Tina went on to pursue a successful international recruitment career, giving her over 25 years’ experience in the Recruitment and Employment Services sector, working with some of the world’s largest blue-chip companies. After returning to Northern Ireland in 2013, she established Staffline Recruitment as a start-up throughout Ireland, taking the company from a standing start to a turnover of £150 million within 5 years.
This unprecedented success led to a stream of awards, including the UTV Fast Business Growth Award in 2015, IOD’s Director of the Year Award in 2017 and UTV Business Eye’s Business Personality of the Year Award in 2018 and the Belfast Telegraph Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
Tina has previously served as the European Ambassador for Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and is currently the Honorary Consul to Finland in Northern Ireland. Tina McKenzie also sits on the board of the Federation of Small Businesses, following over three years as Chair of the Policy Unit for Northern Ireland.
David McRedmond, CEO
An Post
David McRedmond was appointed Chief Executive Officer of An Post in October 2016. He has led the Company’s Transformation programme and returned to financial stability, sustainable revenue growth and profit by taking big steps to fix the Company’s economics and by restructuring the Mails & Parcels and Retail business in line with a rapidly changing, digital marketplace. David is personally driving An Post’s Sustainability Charter, putting it at the centre of An Post’s business transformation and Green Light 2028 strategy.
He was previously CEO of TV3, which he transformed into a major Irish broadcaster, concluding with its sale to Liberty Global, and he has held senior commercial roles in Ireland, the UK and the US. He is chairman of Eir, chairman of the Taoiseach’s High Level Taskforce for Dublin City Centre, a lifetime Fellow of the Irish Management Institute and of the Royal Society of Arts.
Martin McVicar, CEO
Combilift
Martin McVicar is the CEO and Co-founder of Combilift Ltd., a manufacturer of materials handling solutions, with its global HQ based in Co. Monaghan, Ireland. Starting with just a handful of employees in 1998 when Martin established Combilift with Technical Director Robert Moffett, he now heads up a workforce of around 900 and the company exports to more than 85 countries.
Continual investment of 6% of turnover in research and development has enabled Combilift to become the fastest growing global forklift manufacturer, and keeps the company one step ahead when it comes to designing and supplying safer, space saving, productive and more cost-effective ways to lift and store long and awkward products, palletised loads, containers and oversized goods.
Martin’s career in engineering began when he was just a teenager at Moffett Engineering, becoming the Engineering Manager of that global company at just 19 years of age. His skill and insight over the years in identifying exactly what customers need from handling equipment have resulted in the customised approach to Combilift’s range of products, over 85,000 of which have been produced.
Combilift has won dozens of awards for its products, its exporting prowess and management, and this is in no small part down to Martin’s tireless ambition for his company to be the absolute top of its game on a global scale. This ambition was already evident in 2001 when he was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the age of just 29.
Jenny Melia, CEO
Enterprise Ireland
Jenny Melia is the incoming Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Ireland, effective July 2025. A graduate of University College Dublin, she brings nearly 20 years of experience within the agency, where she has held senior roles in client strategy, sector development, and export growth.
Most recently, as Executive Director, she led initiatives to support scaling Irish businesses, foster innovation, and drive international expansion. Her appointment reflects a strong track record in enterprise leadership and deep knowledge of Ireland’s business landscape.
Seán Molloy, CEO
Tirlán
Seán Molley was appointed as Tirlán’s CEO in August 2024. In his CEO role, Seán is responsible for setting the highest standards for food and nutrition. Last year, Tirlán managed to generate €118.5m EBITDA (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation of goodwill and other intangibles and exceptional items). Before being appointed Tirlán’s CEO, Seán held the position of Chief Agribusiness Officer at Glanbia from 2018 to 2021. Additionally, Seán worked at PwC as a Strategy Director / Strategy Consultant and at Ornua as a Corporate Planning Executive.
Seán is a graduate from UCD and holds a Bachelor’s in Agricultural Science.
Eric Mosley, Co-founder & CEo
Workhuman
As CEO and co-founder of what began as Globoforce and is now Workhuman, Eric is leading the charge to dismantle old HR processes and challenge organisations to build new ways to connect the modern workforce. He guides organisations worldwide on how to create more human-centric workplaces that leverage the way people work today, which is around employee development, social connections and relationships, and organisational communities and teams.
As a pioneer of the Workhuman movement, Eric has long believed that recognition and positive reinforcement unleash discretionary energy in employees, inspiring them to do the best work of their lives. Employees achieve their fullest potential when they feel appreciated, connected, and empowered for who they are and what they do.
Eric is the author of “The Crowdsourced Performance Review” and co-author of the award-winning book, “The Power of Thanks.” He is also a regular contributor to The Huffington Post on the topics of recognition and humanity in the workplace, and a frequent contributor to publications including Forbes, Fast Company, and the Harvard Business Review.
Brendan Mooney, CEO
Kainos
Brendan Mooney is the current Chief Executive Officer of Kainos, a leading digital services company, where he has spent the majority of his career. A graduate from Ulster University, he first joined Kainos in 1989 and became CEO in 2001, leading the company through significant growth.
Beyond his role at Kainos, Brendan has served as a Non-Executive Director at businesses including Meridio and the Probation Board of Northern Ireland, contributing his expertise in technology strategy, scaling operations, and corporate governance. He has also played an active role in promoting the tech sector in Northern Ireland through various advisory and industry engagements.
Donal Murphy, CEO
DCC
Donal joined DCC in 1998 and brings extensive knowledge of the Group’s operations, having held several senior leadership positions. He served as Managing Director of DCC Technology from 2004 to 2006, and of DCC Energy from 2006 to 2017. Appointed Chief Executive in July 2017, Donal played a key role in the significant expansion of the Energy division, transforming it from a small UK and Irish operation into a major international business spanning 13 countries.
Donal is a graduate from the Smurfit School of Business and holds an MBA.
Marc Murphy, CEO
Fenergo
Marc is the Chief Executive Officer at Fenergo and is responsible for its business and operational strategy and corporate direction. He has over 20 years’ experience developing, selling, and delivering enterprise financial technology to global banks. A software engineer by background, Marc has a proven track record of building successful business and leadership teams. He has been with the company since its inception and is focused on driving growth, quality and excellence across people, processes and products.
Marc has overseen significant milestones for Fenergo, including its rapid growth on a global scale, achieving unicorn status as a leading-edge financial technology company and its 2021 acquisition by Astorg and Bridgepoint. Marc is an MBA graduate of Dublin City University.
Gene Murtagh, Group CEO
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.
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View part three (K-M)
View part four (N-V)
