By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Michael Lohan, CEO, IDA Ireland
There were new and notable appointments this week at IDA Ireland, Pinergy SolarElectric, StepStone Ireland, Allstate Northern Ireland and Viatel Technology Group.
Michael Lohan, Chief Executive Officer
IDA Ireland
IDA Ireland has announced the appointment of Michael Lohan as new Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Martin Shanahan and will begin his role on 17 April. Mary Buckley will continue as Interim CEO until 16 April whereupon she will revert to Executive Director, IDA Ireland.
IDA Chairman, Frank Ryan, said: “The board is confident that Michael has the required experience to lead IDA in the ongoing implementation of our current strategy and on the future development of the organisation.” He added, “He will continue to lead IDA in the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland and the winning of investments for regional locations.”
Lohan has been with IDA Ireland for over 19 years and currently holds the role of Head of Lifesciences & Talent, Transformation and Innovation. As a member of IDA’s Executive Leadership team, Lohan has a track record of competing and winning foreign direct investment for Ireland, through strategic planning, National and sectoral leadership and promoting operational & business development excellence.
Lohan studied Electronic Engineering at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology before taking on a MSc in Technology Management in University of Galway. He began his career as an Engineering Manager for IEC Electronics and spent almost five years with the company before moving to Nortel Networks where he was the New Business Solutions Project Manager. He began his work with IDA Ireland in 2003 as Business Development Executive Medical Technologies Division.
Ronan Power, Chief Executive Officer
Pinergy SolarElectric
Pictured: Ronan Power, Chief Executive Officer, Pinergy SolarElectric. Picture by Shane O’Neill, Coalesce.
Pinergy SolarElectric, a solar energy businesses, has announced the appointment of Ronan Power as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This new senior appointment will see Power focus on growing the Wexford-based Pinergy SolarElectric business and the scaling of the business through a period of further sustained growth.
In this new role, Power will oversee delivery of all business functions including sales, operations, supply chain, people and revenue as it delivers on its exciting growth ambitions supporting businesses and homeowners in their energy transition. His aim is to build a company culture based around strong ethics on behalf of its customers, employees and all other stakeholders. Power is passionate about building a working environment where people can learn, grow and thrive together while delivering the highest standards of customer experience.
Speaking about the new appointment, Enda Gunnell CEO of Pinergy said: “Ronan has been a member of the Pinergy leadership team since 2020 and in that time, he has demonstrated his key abilities. Ronan’s passion for delivering sustainable services & solutions to the market and his years of experience in management and operational roles make him the ideal person to shape & lead the Pinergy SolarElectric business into the future.”
The past year has highlighted the need for change in the energy sector in Ireland. As the energy transition gathers pace, Pinergy SolarElectric is well positioned to deliver Solar PV systems to the domestic, commercial and agricultural markets in Ireland.
Commenting on his appointment, Ronan Power said: “I’m delighted to be starting this new role with Pinergy SolarElectric. I truly believe, as a country, we need to accelerate our journey towards a greener more sustainable energy future. We are experiencing high levels of demand for our range of solar PV solutions and the company has seen significant growth in the last 12 months. There is huge opportunity for further growth in the solar market and I am very passionate about enabling homeowners and businesses to take control of their own sustainable energy future.”
Prior to becoming CEO of Pinergy SolarElectric, Power held the position of Head of Operations at Pinergy. Prior to that he was the Director of Operational Performance and Transformation at Abtran, Management Consultant with KPMG and Programme Director at Actavo. Ronan has since become a board member of the Enniscorthy Chamber of Commerce demonstrating his commitment to further integrate Pinergy SolarElectric into the local community.
Sam McIlveen, Managing Director,
StepStone Ireland
Pictured: Sam McIlveen, Managing Director, StepStone Ireland
StepStone, the parent company of IrishJobs, Jobs.ie and NIJobs, has announced a change to its local leadership team in Ireland. Sam McIlveen has been appointed as Managing Director of StepStone Ireland and will take on responsibility for leading StepStone’s hiring platforms on the island of Ireland, including IrishJobs, Jobs.ie and NIJobs.
StepStone is a next-generation recruitment businesses, operating in more than 30 countries worldwide and employing around 4,000 people globally.
McIlveen replaces Orla Moran, former General Manager of IrishJobs and Christopher Paye, former General Manager of Jobs.ie. Moran moves on to a more international role and has been promoted to Managing Director of StepStone Atlantic Markets. This broader remit will see her manage teams across StepStone’s hiring platforms in Ireland, South Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean.
At the same time, as part of the management change, Christopher Paye transitions to a new role as Revenue Director of StepStone in Ireland and part of the leadership team in Ireland.
Formerly, General Manager of NIJobs, which he joined in 2013, McIlveen has over fifteen years of experience in online recruitment and an established record of leadership, strategic planning, revenue generation and delivering return on investment for customers. Prior to this role, McIlveen had a varied career in advertising and media in Northern Ireland, including fourteen years at AV Browne Group and over five years with Independent News and Media (INM).
In this new position, McIlveen now has responsibility for overseeing the direction of IrishJobs, Jobs.ie and NIJobs, which supports thousands of employers and job seekers from across the island of Ireland in their pursuit to hire the right talent and find jobs that suit their ambitions.
Commenting on his appointment, Sam McIlveen, Managing Director, StepStone Ireland, said: “I’m delighted to take on this new role at what is a crucial time for both our business and our customers. The jobs market has been particularly volatile in the last few years as it underwent a series of dramatic changes in the wake of Covid-19. Following the sharp fall and subsequent surge in the number of job vacancies in the early years of the pandemic, we now find ourselves at a stage where job vacancy growth is levelling out but vacancies are still up a third on pre-pandemic levels. In addition, despite recent uncertainty across the technology sector, it remains very much a jobseekers’ market, with unemployment at its lowest level in over 20 years.
Dr. Stephen McKeown, Vice President and Managing Director
Allstate Northern Ireland
Pictured: Dr. Stephen McKeown, Vice President and Managing Director, Allstate Northern Ireland
Allstate Northern Ireland has appointed Dr. Stephen McKeown to lead its employees, technology, and operations. As Vice President and Managing Director, Dr. McKeown will play a critical role in Allstate’s digital transformation and will be the main representative to business, government, education, and wider society in Northern Ireland.
A career technologist with over 20 years of data and analytics experience, Dr. McKeown joined Allstate in 2018 and was the first Chief Information Officer appointed outside North America. He was most recently Divisional CIO and Director of Data and Intelligent Systems at Allstate Enterprise Solutions.
Dr. McKeown led the transformation of Allstate NI’s analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence functions. He has held positions including Director of Data Science and Real-Time Insights and Director of the AI Centre of Excellence.
As a member of the Allstate NI Executive Committee, he led the company’s review of its early careers and talent development strategy. He also led inclusive diversity initiatives that resulted in recognition by organisations including Diversity Mark NI. He is the executive sponsor for the Allstate NI Employee Impact Groups.
Dr. McKeown is a founder of Big Data Belfast, a technology conference. He is a European Commission industry expert for the €80B Horizon and Eurostars innovation programmes. He held advisory roles to the Northern Ireland Government Digital ICT Strategy Group and UK Technology Strategy Board.
He has held senior tech positions in Belfast and Dublin. He spent five years as CEO of Analytics Engines, a Belfast VC-backed advanced analytics startup. He previously worked at Accenture, the ECIT Global Research Institute and Microsoft. Dr. McKeown has a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate from Queen’s University in Belfast.
Vice President and Managing Director of Allstate NI Dr. Stephen McKeown said: “I am thrilled to be appointed Vice President and Managing Director of Allstate NI. Since joining the company in 2018, I have had the opportunity to ensure our digital capabilities deliver on our enterprise strategy. Allstate NI is at the forefront of that change, and I look forward to leading Allstate NI, Northern Ireland’s largest technology employer.”
Niall Tuohy, Security Lead
Viatel Technology Group
Pictured: Niall Tuohy, Security Lead, Viatel Technology Group. Pic: Don Moloney.
Viatel Technology Group, a digital services group, has announced the appointment of Niall Tuohy as Security and SD-WAN Product Manager. The appointment follows the announcement by the Taoiseach that 50 new jobs will be created by the group in the next 18 months as it significantly expands its security portfolio.
Viatel Group CTO, Eilish O’Connor, said “It is my pleasure to welcome Niall to the team. Cybersecurity is a dynamic, never-ending battle. Niall has the breadth and depth of expertise to ensure Viatel delivers smart, responsive prevention and protection to the pervasive threats and vulnerabilities out there.”
Lauren Kehoe, Head of Product Strategy with Viatel Technology Group, welcomed the appointment saying that “This role is a new one for Viatel and we look forward to seeing Niall’s impact on our product roadmap and our partnerships. Most importantly, we are delighted to have the magnitude of his security expertise focused on protecting our customers’ data and operations.”
Tuohy brings extensive security and connectivity experience to his role. He worked with Vodafone Ireland for almost twenty years, most recently as Senior Security Portfolio Product Manager. Tuohy is eager to get to work. He says, “Viatel is a great indigenous Irish tech success story. There is formidable technical talent in the company. I look forward to working with the team and with Viatel’s global
ecosystem of partners to develop our offering to the market.”
Viatel now employs over 275 people throughout Ireland. The company partners with more than 5,000 enterprises including many household names and global brands. The Viatel customer base spans many
industries but it is notably strong in the fintech, healthcare and retail sectors.
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