By Business & Finance 
The Business & Finance CFO 100 Index 2023, in association with Sia Partners, recognises the top 100 Chief Financial Officers working across some of the most innovative companies in Ireland and the UK today.
To launch this Index, Business & Finance hosted a virtual thought leadership panel discussion on the key issues facing the CFO today.
The theme is: CFOs leading the strategic cost challenge. Financial leaders will discuss navigating an unpredictable business landscape while overcoming challenges and finding opportunities for growth.
Watch the CFO 100 Index Webinar on-demand video
Download the CFO 100 Index 2023 PDF
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Ciara Lee, Director of Finance,
Cisco
Ciara Lee began working with Cisco almost twenty years ago and has, in that time, worked in several roles including, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia (EMEAR) Accounting leader, followed by EMEAR Head of Corporate Revenue.
She took on the position of Director of Finance & CFO for Cisco Capital in EMEAR in 2019. Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet.
The company was founded in 1984 by two computer scientists from Stanford University seeking an easier way to connect different types of computer systems. Today, 85% of Internet traffic travels across Cisco’s systems and Cisco is a global, multi-national corporation, headquartered in San Jose, California.
Lee studied Commerce in University College Dublin and is a qualified accountant (FCCA), she has been recently elected to serve on the Business Leaders Forum panel for ACCA Ireland.
Seána Leech, Chief Financial Officer,
Cpl
Seána Leech joined Cpl in February 2018, and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in January 2022.
Prior to joining Cpl, she worked for a number of large multinational organisations with the responsibility for management of complex finance functions in highly regulated environments.
She is a qualified accountant and a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Colm Leen, Chief Financial Officer,
Carbery Group
Colm Leen is Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of Carbery Group. A graduate of University College Cork, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in 1987.
Following a period working with KPMG in New York, he joined Carbery’s finance team in 1988. In 1992, he was appointed Financial Controller of Carbery and in 1995 was appointed to the Board of Carbery Group as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary.
As Group Chief Financial Officer and a member of the executive global leadership team over the past twenty eight years, he has been responsible for the planning, implementation and management of the financial activities of the group. During this period, the group has witnessed significant organic and acquisitive growth including the completion of a number of acquisitions in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
This journey has seen the financial team at Carbery leading numerous evaluations of investment opportunities as well as successive funding initiatives.
In 1998 he was appointed a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Leen is a former Director of Cork Chamber of Commerce. He currently sits on the Governing Body of University College Cork serving also as a member of its People Committee. He has been a member of the University’s Audit and Risk Committee over a number of years and served as the Committee’s Chair from 2019–2021.
Kevin Lucey, Chief Financial Officer,
DCC plc
Kevin Lucey was appointed as DCC’s Chief Financial Officer in July 2020. Lucey joined DCC in 2010 as Finance & Development Director of the Technology division and since then has held a number of senior Group finance roles, including most recently as Head of Capital Markets.
Prior to joining DCC, he was CFO and a principal of a leading Irish private equity firm.
Mark Lynch, Chief Financial Officer,
Arthur Cox
Mark Lynch works with Arthur Cox’s partners and associates to manage the firm’s financial performance and financing arrangements.
Lynch leads the firm’s finance function, working with the Partner group, to support and finance business growth through robust planning and forecasting, managing its financing arrangements, helping to drive operational efficiency and reporting business performance and performance trends in an accessible and engaging manner.
Lynch is a Chartered Accountant and has over thirty years’ experience in the professional services industry having previously held senior executive management roles in PwC and Deloitte.
David Manifold, Chief Financial Officer,
eShopWorld
David Manifold joined eShopWorld as Chief Financial Officer in 2019. He has considerable senior management experience in technology-led, high growth environments.
Manifold has over thirty years’ experience in the financial and technology sectors. He joined ESW from Oasis Group where he managed the firm’s Group Finance Function. He also previously held the role of Director of Integration and Corporate Strategy Director at Aer Lingus.
Grainne McAleese, Deputy Chief Financial Officer,
Inizio
In 2021, Grainne McAleese was part of the UDG management team which oversaw the successful $4 billion acquisition of UDG Healthcare plc by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Inizio is an Irish-headquartered company with 10,000 employees globally providing innovative outsourced services to healthcare companies.
Prior to UDG, she worked as General Manager, Ireland with Alexion, a rare disease US biotech company, leading their expansion and a €500 million investment in biologics and packaging facilities in Ireland. McAleese previously spent ten years working with Elan Pharmaceuticals in the United States and Ireland in various corporate, strategic and group finance roles.
Externally, she is a Board Director for Science Foundation Ireland, the national funding body for STEM research in Ireland.
John McCarthy, Chief Financial Officer,
Ardonagh Europe and Arachas
John McCarthy is CFO of Ardonagh Europe the European platform of global insurance broker The Ardonagh Group. He is also CFO of Ardonagh’s Irish business Ireland’s leading insurance broker Arachas, which he joined and was appointed to the Board in 2018.
Prior to joining Arachas, he was a Director of AIB Corporate Finance where he gained extensive M&A experience. In his earlier career he worked with UDG Healthcare and PwC. McCarthy is a qualified chartered accountant with significant experience of financial management, M&A and strategic development in a financial services environment.
Stephen Mc Carthy, Chief Financial Officer,
Aviva Insurance
Stephen Mc Carthy is the Chief Financial Officer of Aviva Ireland, General Insurance. He took up the role in July 2022 having worked at Aviva since 2014.
Over the course of his career, he has held a variety of senior insurance roles across pricing, reserving, risk, and business management in the UK, Canada and Ireland. In his previous role, Mc Carthy was the Head of Corporate Development at Aviva Group where he led acquisitions and disposals that were instrumental in the reshaping of Aviva.
Mc Carthy is a qualified actuary and holds a Bachelor’s Actuarial and Financial Studies in Actuarial Science from University College Dublin.
Matthew McGee, Finance Director,
Boston Scientific
Matthew McGee began working at Boston Scientific in 2006 as a Principal Finance Analyst. He then took on the role of Finance Manager, then Senior Finance Manager and then ultimately the Finance Director in 2016.
Prior to Boston Scientific, McGe spent five years working for PwC. He studied Business Studies, Accounting and French at the Waterford Institute of Technology before studying at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland from 2000 to 2003.
Paul McKeown, Executive Director — Client Services, Business and Operations People & Corporate Services,
Enterprise Ireland
Paul McKeown is responsible for Client Services, Business and Operations, People & Corporate Services. Prior to his current role, he led the Directorate incorporating Enterprise Ireland’s People and Policy, Corporate Services and Regional Development Divisions. He is also the agency’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
McKeown joined Enterprise Ireland as CFO in 2017 and was promoted to Executive Director in 2019. Prior to joining Enterprise Ireland, he was Director of Finance at St Vincent’s University Hospital. He started his career in KPMG and managed a wide portfolio of clients during his five years with the firm.
A Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, McKeown also holds Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm) and Master of Accounting (M.Acc) qualifications from University College Dublin.
John McLaughlin, Chief Financial Officer,
Sysco Ireland
John McLaughlin is the Chief Financial Officer at Sysco Ireland. He is responsible for all Financial Functions and Sales Support.
Prior to joining Sysco, McLaughlin held several Executive level positions within Brakes Europe including Finance Director Brakes Ireland, Commercial Finance Director UK, and Operations Finance Director UK.
Having started his career in Manufacturing with Rank Hovis MacDougall, he then joined a logistics business, ADL, as part of a management buyout team which led to a flotation on the London Stock Market.
McLaughlin is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.
Jim Mintern, Group Finance Director,
CRH
Jim Mintern has over thirty years’ experience in the building materials industry, nearly twenty years of which have been with CRH.
Mintern joined CRH as Finance Director for Roadstone and since then has held several senior positions across the Group, including Country Manager for Ireland, Managing Director of each of the Western and Eastern regions of our Europe Materials Division and Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive.
He was appointed to the Board and became Chief Financial Officer with effect from June 1st 2021.
Billy Morris, Chief Financial Officer,
Genesis Global
Billy Morris is the Chief Financial Officer of Genesis Global. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAI) from Ireland with over fifteen years of experience in corporate finance, financial planning & analysis and financial management.
Morris has wide-ranging international experience in finance and accounting over multiple industries in both Ireland and the US.
He became CFO of Genesis Global in 2021 and joined the firm from ThousandEyes where he was VP of Finance. Morris previously held roles at Twilio Inc., Ubisoft and Deloitte.
Mark Mulqueen, Chief Financial Officer,
KPMG
Mark Mulqueen is the CFO for KPMG in Ireland and a member of the firm’s Executive Leadership Team. Responsible for all aspects of finance and administration within the firm.
He is a driven and accomplished Senior Executive with extensive financial, transformation and business management experience predominantly in professional services organisations (legal and financial).
His range of experience includes CFO and business transformation project management roles in professional services organisations working directly to the Managing Partner and Executive Team.
Mulqueen is recognised for driving performance improvement in key business processes including time management, billing, cash and digitising the delivery of financial metrics to support unit leaders in driving profitable revenue growth.
Aubrey Mulveen, Chief Financial Officer,
Chanelle Pharma
Aubrey Mulveen is Chief Financial Officer at Chanelle Pharma. He joined the Group in 2021 from C&D foods, a branch of ABP food group, where he was CFO for six years. He was also previously an audit director at KPMG.
Mulveen has extensive experience in acquisitions, business transformation and is currently leading strategic, operational and financial programmes that will provide Chanelle Pharma with the platform to support significant global expansion.
Ken Murphy, Chief Financial Officer,
Aon Ireland
Ken Murphy is the Chief Financial officer of Aon Ireland. He is a professionally qualified executive with thirty years’ experience working in senior financial positions for companies based in Europe, US and Asia.
His specialities include effective management across multiple international entities; mergers & acquisitions including post acquisition integration of operations, systems and personnel.
Nicola O’Brien, Chief Financial Officer,
Permanent TSB
Nicola O’Brien joined Permanent TSB in 2017 and most recently held the position of Head of Finance and Investor Relations before being made CFO.
Prior to joining the Bank, O’Brien held a number of senior roles in Bank of Ireland, including: Head of Finance Group Customer Operations; Head of Group Finance Strategy and Divisional Financial Controller for the Retail Ireland division.
She is a qualified Accountant (ACMA) with over twenty years’ experience operating at a senior level within the Retail Banking sector in Ireland. She brings a strong understanding of the commercial, strategic, operational, financial and regulatory requirements of Banking.
Her strong business acumen and in-depth knowledge of Permanent TSB is of huge value to the Bank.
John O’Connor, Chief Financial Officer,
Zurich Insurance
John O’Connor is the Chief Financial Officer at Zurich Insurance. He was appointed to this position in 2001, prior to which he held various financial positions at Motorola beginning in 1989. O’Connor holds a Bachelor of Business Studies degree from the University of Limerick, where he studied between 1980 and 1984.
Ross O’Connor, Chief Financial Officer,
Avolon
Ross O’Connor was appointed Chief Financial Officer in October 2022 and leads the financial reporting, tax, corporate development, capital markets and aircraft trading activities at Avolon.
O’Connor joined Avolon in 2011 and has held various roles throughout the organisation, including Vice President Trading and Head of Investor Relations. From 2020 to 2022, he served as Head of Capital Markets for Avolon, leading Avolon’s fundraising strategy and initiatives, including the management of Avolon’s rating agency and global lender relationships.
O’Connor holds a Bachelor (Hons) in Management Science and Information Systems Studies degree from Trinity College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
Barry O’Donnell, Chief Financial Officer,
Actavo
Barry O’Donnell is Actavo’s Chief Financial Officer since 2021, responsible for Financial strategy & planning, mergers and acquisitions, tech strategy and debt and working capital management across a number of diverse engineering services businesses.
He has a Bachelor of Business Studies, a Master of Accounting from UCD and is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland having trained originally in PwC.
O’Donnell is commercially-focused and results-driven. He has extensive experience driving finance functions in fast-paced entrepreneurial environments. Previous roles included Head of Finance at Paddy Power Online and Finance Manager at Anglo Irish Bank.
He is a big believer in Actavo’s value of ‘Perform as a Team’. He is change-oriented and works to bring new technologies to help automate and streamline engineering processes and construction methodologies. He is future-orientated and plans for where Actavo is going, rather than where it is.
Avril O’Hehir, Chief Administration Officer (CAO) and Board Director,
Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland
Avril O’Hehir is the Chief Administration Officer (CAO) and is a member of the Board of Directors of Lidl Ireland GmbH and Lidl Northern Ireland Limited since August 2018.
In this role, O’Hehir is responsible for the areas of Finance and Accounts, Management Accounting, Legal and Compliance, IT, Business Development, Customer Service and Audit.
With more than nineteen years’ professional experience in the FMCG retail industry in Ireland and abroad, O’Hehir has extensive knowledge of strategic change management, business development, company reorganisations, acquisitions and divestments.
She joined Lidl in 2004 as a project assistant and swiftly progressed to hold a variety of leadership roles throughout the business. During her career with Lidl, she has served as Employee Relations Manager, Director of Administration Organisation, International Consultant in Lidl Germany and Chief Administration Officer and Board member in Lidl Romania.
A dynamic, experienced and forward-thinking senior leader, O’Hehir’s indigenous and international experience has given her a competitive edge and a passion for first-to-market technology that drives efficiencies and adds value to communities across the country.
She is a graduate of Technological University Dublin with a Bachelor of Arts in International Business and holds a Diploma in Employment Law. A keen advocate for personal and educational development, O’Hehir has also more recently completed a Master’s in Business Administration at Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick.
O’Hehir is a proud mum to two daughters Eva and Millie, and enjoys spending time with her family, reading and travelling.
Diarmuid O’Neill, Chief Financial Officer,
Doyle Shipping Group
Diarmuid O’Neill has been CFO of Doyle Shipping Group since 2014. The Irish-owned Shipping and Logistics company has been operating out of Ireland since 1886.
Owned by the Doyle Family, the Group has developed from its maritime roots and is now offering integrated shipping, logistics and maritime services. Prior to that, he worked in AIB for over fourteen years. He began there as Relationship Manager and ultimately held the position of Head of International Corporate Banking before being made Head of Corporate Banking Ireland.
He studied accountancy at University College Cork before completing his Chartered Accountant qualifications in the Institute of Chartered Accountants. He also completed a Leadership Development programme in Harvard Business School.
David Paterson, Chief Financial Officer,
Primark
Since joining Primark as Chief Financial Officer in 2017, David Paterson has responsibility for Primark’s global finance operations including driving Primark’s international expansion investment. More broadly, as well as legal, risk and procurement, he is also responsible for technology, overseeing its transformation into a best in class strategic enabler for the business.
Prior to joining Primark, he was CFO at CarTrawler for over four and-a-half years during a period of significant transformation and growth. He previously held a number of financial and strategy roles across a number of industries including TUI Travel plc, Virgin Rail Group, Deutsche Bank AG and British Airways.
A graduate of the University of Leeds and London Business School, Paterson is based at Arthur Ryan House, Primark’s international headquarters.
Sinéad Patton, Chief Financial and Commercial Officer — Ireland, Regional Director — Northern Ireland,
Veolia
Chief Financial and Commercial Officer of Veolia in Ireland and its Regional Director for Northern Ireland, Sinéad Patton is proud of the role her organisation plays as benchmark leader of the Ecological Transformation, focused on helping its customer organisations to reduce their carbon footprint and sustainably manage their energy, water and waste resources.
She joined the energy division of Veolia as its Financial Controller in early 2005, holding various positions before assuming her current responsibilities across the Group’s full remit of energy, water and waste management services in 2018.
A key member of the leadership team charged with bringing to life Veolia’s Purpose and identity of Resourcing the World via Ecological Transformation, Patton is passionate about helping others achieve their potential. She has embodied this in her co-chairing of the Business in the Community Leaders subgroup on Social Inclusion since 2018, seeing the publication of the Inclusive Employer Blueprint in 2019 and more recently, the launch of Elevate, the Inclusive Workplace Pledge in 2021. She is a member of the Business in the Community Board of Directors since 2021.
Download the full list as PDF
Business & Finance CFO 100 (alphabetical by surname):
View part one (A–D)
View part two (D–K)
View part three (L–O)
View part four (P–W)
