Episodes
Published 01/30/24
It was the culture of Microsoft that first attracted Anne Sheehan to the company – “It's not about who's the cleverest person in the room. It's about who can be curious, who can learn, who can be creative”. Having spent over 20 years in the technology and telecom sectors working with companies like IBM and Vodafone, Anne has always chosen roles based on the “scale, breadth and depth” of the work to be done and the potential impact she could make for the company and its customers. So, when the...
Published 01/30/24
Ten minutes into the first job interview, Wendy Chang Smith knew that Glanbia was the right fit for her. As someone for whom company culture, values and learning experiences are paramount, Wendy was bowled over by the “wisdom and experience” of the two colleagues on the panel and felt like she had known them for years – “ I was sold, I was ready to join this company.” But the idea of taking on the role of CFO of Glanbia Performance Nutrition was also very compelling from a business...
Published 01/10/24
On Mairead McCaul’s first day in nursing college, her tutor said something that has always stayed with her: “when you're caring for a patient, you’re in a privileged position and you should always treat them as if they were your mother or your father or your brother or sister or your child”. Mairead carried these words with her throughout her time in nursing and midwifery, working in sales in the laboratory diagnostics sector, and into the position she holds today as MD, Human Health, of one...
Published 12/13/23
Carol Phelan has always loved numbers. Growing up on a farm, she understood how the numbers she was learning in school related to the business of the farm and how it scaled. Accountancy was one of her Leaving Cert subjects, but, for Carol, “accountancy was a set of tools that I wanted to work in Business rather than accountancy as the end in and of itself.” Carol spent the first six years of her career as a consultant , auditing and advising client companies. However this work increasingly...
Published 11/27/23
Growing up on a small farm in Tipperary taught Leo Clancy a lot about entrepreneurship. From an early age he understood how to assess the business’s performance in any given year, how to make a profit on tight margins, and, crucially, he learned to “dig in and get the work done that needs to be done and make things happen”.  Today, Clancy leads an organisation that supports companies all over Ireland to start, grow, innovate and win export sales in global markets. Enterprise Ireland client...
Published 11/06/23
In this episode of The EY Podcast: CEO Outlook Series, Deirdre Mortell, CEO of Rethink Ireland, joins host Richard Curran to talk about her passion for social change, the power of people to make positive impact, her vision for a better Ireland, and how this role is helping her to achieve it. From an early age, Deirdre Mortell wanted to ‘change the world’. A very active participant in student politics, Mortell left UCC with a Masters in Women’s Studies but with no clear sense of what came...
Published 10/04/23
In this episode of the EY CFO Outlook podcast, Ken Bowles of Smurfit Kappa Group discusses the Irish packaging company's recent merger announcement and what it means for their growth.  Also, as he approaches almost 30 years with the company, he talks about why people are at the heart of a successful business and how Smurfit Kappa's focus on sustainability now means the same box is used 25 times. 
Published 09/20/23
In this episode of the EY CFO Outlook podcast, Tom Hickey of mining company Kenmare Resources chats to host Jonathan Healy about becoming a CFO at the young age of 31, the importance of storytelling in business, his love of the natural resources sector and how ESG is at the heart of Kenmare’s operations in Mozambique.     
Published 08/09/23
In this episode of The EY Podcast: CEO Outlook series, Conor Galvin tells host Richard Curran about his unconventional journey to the position of CEO of Dairygold and his long term strategic ambitions for the company. He also shares his unique insights into the current challenges and opportunities facing the food production sector. When Conor Galvin became CEO of Dairygold in January 2022, it was a period of great volatility and uncertainty. The company’s energy bills had soared by 800% due...
Published 07/20/23
In this episode of The EY Podcast: CEO Outlook Series, Jim Bergin, CEO of Tirlán, tells host Richard Curran the story of his 30-year journey to the top of one of Ireland’s best-known indigenous companies. Jim leads Tirlán during a very significant time for the company, with a recent restructuring from plc to cooperative, the creation of a new investment fund, and record farmgate prices. Coming from a farming family in Co Kilkenny, Jim Bergin has always understood the language of farmers, the...
Published 06/21/23
In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook Podcast Series, Enda McMahon of Blackrock Asset Management Ireland, joins host Richard Curran to talk about his journey from the public sector, where he worked with Ireland’s C&AG and Financial Regulator, to his current leadership position with the world’s largest asset manager, and the valuable lessons he has learned along the way.  Blackrock is the world's largest asset manager with approximately $8 trillion in assets under management. The...
Published 04/14/23
With clients in over 100 countries and a global team of 105,000+, CBRE is one of the world’s leading commercial real estate services & investment companies. As MD of CBRE’s Irish operations, Myles Clarke has a bird’s-eye view of Ireland’s current and future commercial activity, FDI footprint, and the nature of the post-covid workplace. He is also plugged-in to the incredibly fast-changing importance of environmental sustainability and clients’ demand for highly efficient commercial...
Published 02/28/23
Sara Venning was appointed CEO of Northern Irish Water in 2014. A love of hard work, solving problems, and improving systems and processes attracted Sara to an industry that is ‘always on’, such as a public utility. It is a sector with its own unique challenges, and Sara thrives on finding a way through them.   These challenges include competing for funding from the same pot that education and healthcare also draw from, finding a solution to Northern Ireland’s above-average water wastage, and...
Published 11/24/22
In this episode of The EY CFO Outlook Podcast, TJ Kelly, Group CFO of Origin Enterprises, tells host Vincent Wall the remarkable story of a career spent in the finance function of some of the world’s most iconic companies. He shares the lessons he has learned along the way, from people management and investor relations, to strategic international expansion and building a brand. Growing up in the family business in Co Kilkenny, TJ Kelly learned the basics of commerce from a very young age....
Published 10/27/22
In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook podcast series, Dominic MacSorley tells host Richard Curran the remarkable story of a career spent finding hope in despair, travelling the world to care for the survivors of crises, and running an organisation with over 4500 staff across 25 countries.  Dominic MacSorley’s first role with Concern Worldwide was a baptism of fire. Posted to the Thai-Cambodian border aged 26, Dominic thought he would be building a school in a quiet village; rather he ended up...
Published 10/13/22
“I think we have a real opportunity here for Ireland to be the shining example of how a health system could be delivered.”  In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook podcast series, Bill Maher, Group CEO of the Bon Secours Heath System, tells host Richard Curran the story of his journey from Ireland to the UK and back again, what he has learned about world-class healthcare delivery along the way, and his vision for Ireland as a shining light in patient care. Bill Maher has high hopes for...
Published 09/09/22
In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook podcast, Jason Ward, MD of Dell Technologies Ireland, tells host Richard Curran about his personal and professional journey to the top of one of Ireland’s most significant companies, his priorities for the role, and how Dell is leading digital, IT, security, and workplace transformation.  ....................... The story of Dell in Ireland is a fascinating one. Founded by Michael Dell in 1984, the company opened its Irish operations six years later,...
Published 07/29/22
In 2008, Mainstream Renewable Power was born out of a belief that renewable energy would become a mainstream asset class. At the time, renewable power was not as popular or investable as it is today, but the company founders had a vision that it would soon become ‘front and centre’ to how we live our lives, and backed themselves accordingly. Today, Mainstream is valued at over 2bn, employs 500 staff, and it is eyeing a potential IPO.  Central to this success story is Group CFO, Paul Corrigan....
Published 07/15/22
“I became obsessed by the creativity of the business world”  In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook podcast series, Deborah Kelleher tells host Richard Curran the story of her childhood love of music, her rise to the highest levels of musicianship and academia, and subsequent transition to business and leadership in the Royal Irish Academy of Music.  Deborah Kelleher started playing piano at the age of seven and so began a devotion to music that was to dominate her formative years. Coming from...
Published 06/24/22
In this episode of the EY CFO Outlook podcast series, NTR plc CFO Marie Joyce tells host Vincent Wall the story of her rise through the ranks of companies including Arthur Anderson, Elan, and Irish Broadband, to her current role, securing a green future with NTR plc. Established in 1978 to build Ireland’s first toll bridge, NTR plc has been investing in sustainable infrastructure since 1999. Solely focussed on investments in onshore wind, solar, and battery storage, the company now manages...
Published 05/31/22
In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook podcast series, Averil Power of the Irish Cancer Society tells host Richard Curran about her unconventional childhood, her love of business and law, and the successful career she enjoyed in politics; and how they all came together to make her a highly driven and impactful leader in the non-profit sector.   “A huge privilege that I’m so grateful to have”.  Despite many years working in the world of politics, Averil Power always seemed destined for...
Published 05/26/22
In the world of social media, what is being said about your business can make or break you. How you access these insights in a timely manner makes all the difference. In 2009, when Twitter was still relatively unknown and Instagram was not yet born, Stephen O’Leary spotted an opportunity and started to build a company to do just that – give businesses an ear to the ground on social media. “With no savings, no plan, no experience in running a business, I decided the need exists, there is a...
Published 05/06/22
In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook series, EPS Global CEO Colin Lynch tells host Richard Curran the story of scaling internationally without external equity, making personal sacrifices to keep EPS Global afloat, and his plans to grow the company three-fold by 2025. For a company like EPS Global, it is a remarkably busy time to be in business. Founded in Ireland in 1999, EPS Global is a distributor of specialised IT components and semiconductors used in high-growth areas including data...
Published 02/25/22
In this episode of the EY CEO Outlook series, Mark Rose Burke joins host Richard Curran to share her vision for Dublin city, her views on how to most effectively drive forward the changes required, and the top priorities and challenges facing business leaders in 2021 and 2022. There has been a lot of debate in recent years about the role that large cities will play in the how we work, live and play, particularly in a post-Covid landscape. As CEO of Dublin’s largest and most influential...
Published 12/21/21