By Business & Finance 
Barry Devereux
Business & Finance highlights notable new appointments at McCann FitzGerald, Datalex and Small Firms Association.
Barry Devereux, Managing Partner
McCann FitzGerald
Barry Devereux has been re-elected as Managing Partner of McCann FitzGerald for a second term, beginning next May. Mr Devereux was elected in 2015.
One of Mr Devereux’s priorities for the next term will be the continued pursuit of ‘Progressive Delivery’, McCann FitzGerald’s approach to bringing together the firm’s deep legal, business and regulatory knowledge with digital and AI technologies. This approach is designed to develop and deliver a suite of agile and clever solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of its clients. Since the beginning of this year, the firm has launched a series of apps, including a GDPR gap-analysis application, a Credit Reporting Compliance app and a Director Compliance Statement tool.
Dónal Rooney, Chief Financial Officer
Donal Rooney
Datalex
Datalex plc a provider of digital commerce solutions to global travel retailers, announced the appointment of Dónal Rooney as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Company Secretary and as a Director of Datalex with effect from 5th December 2018. Dónal succeeds David Kennedy who will remain with Datalex through the year end and will work closely with Dónal to assist his transition.
Prior to joining Datalex, Dónal was Group CFO of Amaris Hospitality (2016-2018) where he played a lead role in a successful Private Equity exit process. Amaris Hospitality was a leading hotel investment and management group, 100% owned by the global Private Equity firm, Lone Star, which brought together 89 hotels located in the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe trading under prominent brands such as Hilton, Jurys Inn and Mercure. From 2012-2016, Dónal was CFO of NAMA (National Asset Management Agency) having previously worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager at NAMA from 2010-2012. Dónal began his career and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen (1997-2002) and also worked with KPMG (2002-2010).
Sue O’Neill, Chair
Sue O’Neill
Small Firms Association
Sue O’Neill was re-elected as Chair of the Small Firms Association. She has served as the Association’s Chair since 2016.
Her key priority for her new term will be to lobby Government for the introduction and implementation of a National Small Business Strategy for Ireland. This initiative is calling on Government to target the development of small business across all regions with just as much energy and strategic focus as they have put on attracting FDI from the 1950s to the present day.
Ms O’Neill is Managing Director of Shellcove, an Association Management Company (AMC), which she founded in 2004. Shellcove provides outsourced management services to companies and associations, including strategy, marketing, business/membership development and event management as well as administration support. Prior to Shellcove, Ms O’Neill founded Generation in 1993, a creative agency offering advertising, design and marketing services across a broad spectrum of clients.
Ms O’Neill holds an MBA from Dublin City University, a Diploma in both Digital Marketing and Print Management and is a Graduate of the IMI Business Development Programme. She also serves on the board of Microfinance Ireland. She has been a member of the Small Firms Association since 1993 and has served on its National Council since 2004.
