By Business & Finance 
Pictured (L-R): Ian Hyland, President and Publisher of Business & Finance, Professor Frances Ruane, Chair of The National Competitiveness Council and former Director of ESRI, actor and writer Gabriel Byrne, Dame Louise Richardson, President of the Carnegie Corporation New York, and Seamus Hand, Managing Partner, KPMG Ireland.
On Friday 8th December, at the Convention Centre Dublin, the 49th Business & Finance Awards, in association with KPMG, shone a light on the leaders shaping Ireland’s future.
The Convention Centre Dublin was teeming with notable talent on Friday, December 8th, as representatives from the worlds of business, politics and the arts gathered to celebrate business excellence and thoughtful leadership. Sarah Freeman, Editor Business & Finance and Pat Kenny, Broadcaster, were joint MC’s and opened the Awards ceremony.
TK Whitaker Award
Gabriel Byrne, the renowned Irish actor, writer and director, was honoured with the TK Whitaker Award for his outstanding contribution to public life and the arts.
He was introduced by Irish author Colum McCann, who said: “We live in broken times, we all know that … We’re searching around to somehow make a mosaic of all the broken pieces.”
He then quoted writer and activist James Baldwin: “For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.”
He continued: “We Irish have a remarkable literary and theatrical heritage, and none these days exemplifies that more than Mr. Gabriel Byrne.”
Byrne then spoke to attendees: “It really means something when you’re acknowledged by the people in the place you come from.”
Pictured at the Business & Finance Awards 2023: Gabriel Byrne, collecting the T.K Whitaker Award, presented by Colum McCann
Gabriel Byrne has starred in more than 100 feature films including Excalibur, Miller’s Crossing, Into the West, Little Women, The Usual Suspects, The Man in the Iron Mask, and many more. On Broadway, he received 3 Tony Award nominations and has twice won the Outer Critics Circle Award for his performances in the works of Eugene O’Neill.
On the small screen, Gabriel Byrne won a Golden Globe Award in 2008 for his lead role in HBO’s In Treatment, while recent TV appearances include acclaimed roles in Vikings and the 2019 adaptation of HG Wells’ The War of The Worlds. He has been nominated for 3 Emmy awards.
His memoir Walking With Ghosts, in which he recalls his journey from working-class roots in Dublin to Hollywood stardom, was published in 2021. He later adapted this work into a highly acclaimed one-man show. It opened in the Gaiety Theatre Dublin and later in London’s West End and Broadway.
He is proud to have been a co-founder of The New Irish Arts Centre in New York, a project that took 20 years and 80 million dollars to complete. Since its inception it has now become one of the city’s most prestigious cultural venues.
The TK Whitaker Award was established in 2016 to mark the 100th birthday of Dr. Thomas Kenneth (TK) Whitaker, the economist and civil servant credited with playing a pivotal role in Ireland’s economic development. It recognises Irish and international political and social leaders who have made a unique contribution to public life. President Michael D. Higgins became the first recipient in December 2016, followed by former Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD in 2017, and former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese in 2018.
In 2019 the Award was presented to filmmaker and environmentalist David Puttnam, while in 2021 the winners were John & Pat Hume, in posthumous recognition of their contribution to peace in Northern Ireland. This was presented to the Hume family by Bono. The 2023 honouree was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who accepted the award via video link.
Sutherland Leadership Award
Pictured: Dame Louise Richardson, President of the Carnegie Corporation New York
Dame Louise Richardson, President of the Carnegie Corporation New York and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and the University of St. Andrews, was presented with the Sutherland Leadership Award for her unwavering contribution to higher education and the pivotal role she played in the Oxford Astra Zeneca Covid vaccine development.
“Thank you very much,” Dame Richardson said upon receipt of the award.
“Peter Sutherland was a towering figure in Irish public life, and I am deeply honoured to have my name associated with his.”
A native of Ireland, Dame Richardson studied history at Trinity College Dublin before gaining her PhD at Harvard University, where she spent 20 years in the faculty of the Department of Government and latterly as Executive Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She currently sits on numerous advisory boards, while serving as a trustee of, among others, the Booker Prize Foundation and the Sutton Trust.
A political scientist by training, Dame Richardson is recognised internationally as an expert on terrorism whose ground-breaking study, What Terrorists Want (2006), is now considered an essential classic in the field. She lectures widely to public, professional, media and education groups, and has served on editorial boards for several journals and presses.
Dame Richardson has been honoured for the excellence of her teaching and scholarship with numerous awards, including the Centennial Medal bestowed on her in 2013 by Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The recipient of ten honorary doctorates from universities around the world, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) in June 2022 in recognition of her services to higher education.
Business Person of the Year
Terry Clune, CEO of CluneTech and founder of TransferMate, was named Business Person of the Year 2023.
Upon accepting the award, he said: “I am humbled by this recognition, which I see as a tribute to our whole team and culture. With incredible progress and innovation happening across fintech, I’m very proud that our companies have become leading players on the global stage.”
Pictured: Terry Clune accepting the Business Person of the Year Award 2023
In association with KPMG Ireland, the Business Person of the Year Award recognises individuals who have demonstrated exceptional career achievements over the past year.
Company of the Year
Heating and industrial company, Glen Dimplex, was named Company of the Year 2023. The company is acclaimed for its exemplary leadership in sustainable innovation and a successful global expansion.
Pictured (L-R): Ian Hyland, President and Publisher of Business & Finance, Fergal Leamy, CEO of Glen Dimplex, and Séamus Hand, Managing Partner, KPMG Ireland.
In association with KPMG Ireland, the Company of the Year Award recognises Irish businesses who, along with having a significant impact in Ireland, operate with an international focus and have annual revenue exceeding €350 million.
Winners
Other winners include:
Boston Scientific Ireland – FDI of the Year in association with IDA Ireland
Aviva – Environmental, Social Governance Award in association with Coillte
Cpl – Diversity Equality and Inclusion Award
Fenergo – Elevation Award in association with Enterprise Ireland
The Business & Finance Awards
Business & Finance was launched in 1964 as Ireland’s premier business magazine. The Business & Finance Awards programme was established a decade later, in 1974, and has become Ireland’s longest-running and most coveted business awards programme. These prestigious awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of some of our most remarkable business leaders.
