Financial and Legal
Adrian Hegarty: Friends First
Adrian Hegarty is the chief executive of the Friends First Group. A prominent figure in the Irish financial services industry over the last two decades, Hegarty joined Friends First as chief executive in 1996 and has established the company as a leading player in the life and pensions market.
Aidan McLoughlin: ITC Group
Aidan McLoughlin is the managing director of ITC Group, an integrated wealth manager, specialising in the provision of retirement and investment structures and services to financial advisors and their clients. Its key subsidiaries include Independent Trustee Company and Astons.
Aisling Dodgson: Investec
Aisling Dodgson is head of treasury at Investec Ireland. She graduated from University College Cork with a degree in commerce and an MBS in Finance.
Alvin Price: William Fry
Alvin Price is chairman of William Fry, which is one of Ireland's largest law firms with an extensive portfolio of national and international business clients. Price is a long-standing partner in the firm's corporate department and has a wealth of experience of acting for a wide range of commercial enterprises, both public and private, across the entire spectrum of corporate and business law.
Brendan Murphy: Allianz Ireland
As CEO of Allianz Ireland, Brendan Murphy leads the global company's Irish corporate and personal lines insurance business.
Brian Daly: KPMG
2009 proved to be a defining year and the consequences for global financial services have been far reaching. As a leading advisor in global financial services, KPMG is committed to playing a key role in Ireland's financial services sector.
Brian Davy: Davy Stockbrokers
Brian Davy is chairman of Davy Stockbrokers, Ireland's leading provider of stockbroking, wealth management and financial advisory services. It offers a broad range of services to private clients, small businesses, corporations and institutional investors; organising activities around four interrelated business areas: capital markets, corporate finance, private clients, and research. In June 2008, the firm was voted Ireland's No 1 brokerage in the Thomson Reuters Extel Pan-European Survey - taking the top spot in seven of the survey's eight key categories.
Brian Keegan: Chartered Accountants Ireland
Brian Keegan is director of taxation with Chartered Accountants Ireland and leads its tax department in its information provision and representations work.
Brian McCarthy: Fexco
Noticing tourists constantly queuing in banks for foreign exchange in the early 1980s, Brian McCarthy was spurred to create a new business opportunity. He left the security of a banking career and opened up a small foreign exchange business, Foreign Exchange Company of Ireland (Fexco). Based in Kerry, it has become a powerful international operation and has made McCarthy one of Ireland's most successful banking entrepreneurs.
Brian Ruane: BNY Mellon AIS
Brian Ruane was appointed CEO of BNY Mellon Alternative Investment Services (AIS) in November 2009. Ruane was formerly head of Global Client Management North America, with responsibility for global financial institutions, real estate, insurance, corporates, endowments and foundations and US asset managers. For the previous five years he had responsibility for global financial institutions based in New York.
Brian Weber: Quilter
Brian Weber is an executive director and head of the Quilter office in Dublin. He completed a degree in Business Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has over 20 years experience in the investment management industry. Prior to joining Quilter, Weber was a director in the private client department of Davy Stockbrokers and spent seven years with Goodbody Stockbrokers.
Colin Sainsbury: BCM Hanby Wallace
Colin Sainsbury is a partner with BCM Hanby Wallace. He is widely regarded as the premier life science lawyer in Ireland, with a high level of technical expertise. He has extensive international transactional experience and advises a broad range of companies operating in the life sciences sectors including; biotechnology, pharmaceutical, med tech companies and research and government institutions, such as Alimentary Health, Azur Pharma, Élan Corporation, Merrion Pharmaceuticals, NUI Galway, Ovagen and Stokes Bio.
Colm Doherty: AIB
Colm Doherty is the group managing director of AIB. He joined AIB International Financial Services in 1988 and became its managing director in 1991. In 1994 he was appointed head of investment banking and then became managing director of AIB Capital Markets plc in 1999. He joined the bank's board in 2003.
Constantin Gurdgiev: Economist
A leading figure in economics commentary and a past group editor of Business & Finance magazine, Dr Constantin Gurdgiev is an adjunct lecturer in Finance with Trinity College Dublin, chairman of the Ireland-Russia Business Association, and head of research and strategy with Heinz Associates.
Cormac McCarthy: Ulster Bank
Cormac McCarthy is chief executive of Ulster Bank Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS).
Dan O'Connor: AIB
Dan O'Connor is executive chairman of AIB Group. He is also a director of CRH plc, former president and chief executive officer of GE Consumer Finance Group, and former senior vice-president of General Electric Company.
Declan Bourke: CMC Markets
Declan Bourke is the country manager in Ireland for CMC Markets. CMC Markets is a pioneer in online financial services for over 20 years, and in 1996 was the first internet FX trading provider. Today, CMC Markets is a leading global provider of retail derivatives. It handled 30 million trades during the period April 2008 to March 2009, with the trades executed having a total value of over $1.5 trillion across the full CFD product range, including foreign exchange and financial spread betting.
Deirdre Somers: Irish Stock Exchange
Deirdre Somers, a chartered accountant, was appointed to the position of chief executive of the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) in April 2007. The 42-year-old native of Cork graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Cork in 1987 and joined KPMG, becoming a manager in KPMG Financial Services where she specialised in international tax.
Dermot Desmond: IIU
Billionaire investor, Dermot Desmond has become one of Ireland's leading financial titans and ranks 462 among Forbes's World's Richest People in 2008 with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion. The 58-year-old was born in Cork and moved to Dublin at the age of six. He was educated at Scoil Mhuire in Marino and at Good Counsel College in New Ross.
Emer Gilvarry: Mason Hayes+Curran
Headquartered in Dublin, with representative offices in London and New York, Mason Hayes+Curran is a leading law firm.
Eugene McCague: Arthur Cox
Eugene McCague is chairman and senior partner of Arthur Cox, one of the largest law firms in Ireland. Arthur Cox employs over 600 people, including 90 partners, in Dublin, London, Belfast and New York.
Eunan O'Carroll: Friends First
Eunan O'Carroll joined Friends First in September 2007 as sales and marketing director. O'Carroll was formerly an executive director of sales and marketing in Canada Life, where his role was part of the Great-West Lifeco takeover in 2003 and where 100% of Canada Life was bought out for an estimated €7 billion. Prior to this, O'Carroll was formerly managing director of Gunne Residential, where he established and implemented a business repositioning of the firm, giving it a more advice-led customer focus.
Fergus Murphy: EBS
Appointed group chief executive of EBS in January 2008, Fergus Murphy is a career banker, having spent considerable time in wholesale and international banking.
Gary Palmer: Irish Funds Industry Association
Gary Palmer is the chief executive of the Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA). The IFIA is the representative body of the international investment fund community, representing the custodian banks, administrators, managers, transfer agents and professional advisory firms involved in the international fund services industry in Ireland.
Gillian Bowler: Irish Life and Permanent
Gillian Bowler is a much lauded Irish entrepreneur whose interests and successes have spanned several industry sectors. She is currently serving as chairman of Irish Life and Permanent (IL&P) and is former president of the Institute of Directors in Ireland. She is a non-executive director of Grafton Group plc and of the Voluntary Health Insurance Board (Vhi) and a director of a number of other companies. She is also former founding chairman of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
James Carroll: Investor First
James A. Carroll is founder and managing director of Investor First, an international real estate investment, development and advisory group. Carroll has spent his entire career in international corporate venturing roles and has over 25 years' industry experience working in Europe, the UK, the US and Australia. Carroll's experience spans technology, private health care, real estate, digital media, online marketing, funds management and supply chain management.
Jim Dowdall: Aviva
Founded in 1908 as the Hibernian Fire & General Insurance Company, and re-branded as Aviva in January 2010, Aviva is Ireland 's largest insurer with over 1.2 million customers in its general insurance, life and pensions and health insurance businesses. Aviva Group plc is the world's fifth largest insurance company with 55 million customers and a presence in 27 countries.
Joe Carr: Mazars
Joe Carr is managing partner of Mazars Ireland, a leading accounting and professional services firm. Carr is a member of the international executive board of Mazars, which has operations in 50 countries worldwide.
Joe Duffy: BNY Mellon
Joe Duffy is country executive for Ireland with BNY Mellon - a global leader in asset management and securities servicing. Employing 1,300 people in Dublin and Cork, 2009 was a significant year for the company, with Duffy overseeing receipt by BNY Mellon of approval from the Financial Regulator to establish a new bank licensed entity in Ireland - known as BNY Mellon (Ireland) Ltd.
Joe Higgins: Bank of Scotland (Ireland)
Joe Higgins is chief executive of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) (BOSI), which is part of Lloyds Banking Group plc.
John Conroy: Merrion Capital
John Conroy is CEO of stockbroking and corporate finance firm Merrion Capital.
John Cronin: McCann FitzGerald
Leading law firm, McCann FitzGerald, has had a very impressive year. Being named Irish Law Firm of the Year 2009, by the International Financial Law Review, and Ireland IP Firm of the Year by leading industry publication, Managing IP, are notable accolades.
John Cunningham: Zurich Bank International
John Cunningham has been a practitioner in the financial services industry for almost 25 years. He initially spent 14 years with Irish Permanent and after a number of varied management positions within the company was appointed deputy head of group marketing. He played an integral role in the demutualisation of Irish Permanent.
John O'Connor: Barclays Bank Ireland
John O'Connor is managing director of Barclays Bank Ireland plc, having been appointed to the position in August 2008. O'Connor took over from the previous MD, Tom McAleese, who stepped down to join Claret Capital. Previous to his MD position, O'Connor headed up Bank of Ireland's acquisition finance business and has over 20 years' experience in commercial banking and structured finance, in both the international and domestic markets.
John Reynolds: KBC Bank Ireland
John Reynolds (51) is chief executive of KBC Bank Ireland plc. He took up the position in March 2009, succeeding Ted Marah on his retirement. Given the turbulent economic environment, KBC Bank Ireland has performed exceptionally well over the last year. In the first nine months of 2009, KBC Bank Ireland contributed 10% (€68 million) of the €680m profits reported by its parent company, Belgian bank KBC Group NV, during that period.
John Tracey: IVCA
John Tracey is optimistic. The chairman of the Irish Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and CEO of publicly quoted TVC Holdings, is in a good position to view the activity and entrep-reneurship going on under the surface of the Irish economy.
Josephine Feehily: Revenue Commissioners
Since March 2008, Josephine Feehily has taken up the position of chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, the Irish tax and customs administration, having served as Revenue Commissioner from July 1998. Throughout her 10 years as a commissioner, she had responsibility at board level for almost all Revenue's business areas including, most recently, tax and customs policy and international matters, along with the large cases division and the Collector General's Office.
Julian Yarr: A&L Goodbody
Julian Yarr will become managing partner of A&L Goodbody in May 2010. He is widely recognised as one of Ireland's leading lawyers and business advisors and his clients include many domestic and international, publicly listed and private companies.
Liam Quirke: Matheson Ormsby Prentice
Liam Quirke is the managing partner at Matheson Ormsby Prentice, Ireland's largest law firm. He is the driving force behind Matheson Ormsby Prentice's well-established strategy to forge front-end
Lionel Alexander: American Chamber of Commerce
Lionel Alexander was appointed president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in January 2010.
Margaret Sweeney: Postbank
Margaret Sweeney is chief executive of Postbank Ireland Ltd, the joint banking venture set up between An Post and leading European financial services provider, BNP Paribas Fortis. She joined the organisation in 2007, leading it through its initial start-up phase and into a period of growth.
Maria Kelly: Limerick Chamber of Commerce
Maria Kelly is CEO of the Limerick Chamber of Commerce, one of the major provincial chambers of commerce in Ireland.
Matthew Elderfield: Central Bank of Ireland
Matthew Elderfield was appointed to the position of the head of Financial Regulation in the restructured Central Bank in January 2010. In his current role, Elderfield will also combine the roles of head of Financial Regulation and Consumer Director.
Max Doyle: Prime Focus Management
Max Doyle is principal and founder of Prime Focus Management Ltd, an investment and turnaround company that takes equity stakes in Irish and UK private companies encountering distress and which are engaged in statutory insolvency or pre-insolvent situations.
Michael Coyle: Galway Chamber of Commerce
A native of Drogheda, Co Louth, Michael Coyle has been CEO of the Galway Chamber of Commerce since 2001. Coyle leads the chamber's lobbying effort and is a regular contributor to local and national media debate on the issues impacting on the economic development of Galway. Supported by the team at the Galway Chamber, he also manages a full schedule of events including conferences, seminars, business lunches, training, networking and business information briefings.
Michael Cullen: Investec
Educated by the Christian Brothers in Co Monaghan, Michael Cullen completed a BComm and MBS at UCD. After college he completed his articles in Craig Gardner/Price Waterhouse in Dublin.
Michael Higgins: CIBC World Markets
As managing director and head of real estate finance at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce World Markets, Michael P Higgins is one of the most active and respected property finance executives in the US. Having joined the company in 1996, he has over 20 years experience in all aspects of the industry, and has been involved in the financing of over $50 billion in commercial property transactions.
Mike McKerr: Ernst & Young
McKerr joined Ernst & Young in 1986 and has been a partner, specialising in transactions advisory, for 13 years with the firm. He was appointed managing partner of the Belfast office, a position which he held from 2001 to 2008, during which time the practise trebled in size.
Myra Garrett: William Fry
Myra Garrett is the managing partner of William Fry. She is a senior member of the firm's corporate finance group and has over 20 years experience representing Irish and international corporates. Specialising in public and private mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, venture capital investment and corporate governance, she is consistently ranked as a leading lawyer in international directories, including: The Legal 500, Who's Who Legal and European Legal Experts.
Neil O'Leary: Ion Equity
Neil O'Leary is chairman and CEO of Ion Equity, based in Dublin. Founded in 2000, the business buys and builds companies operating predominantly in the Irish and UK markets. Businesses where Ion Equity has a major or controlling stake in Ireland include Topaz, one of Ireland's largest private companies, combining the old Irish Shell and Statoil Ireland businesses.
Neville O'Byrne: William Fry
Neville O'Byrne is a consultant to the banking department in William Fry. Having achieved a BA (Mod) at Trinity College Dublin, O'Byrne qualified as a solicitor in 1971 and went on to become a partner with William Fry in 1977.
Pádraig Ó Ríordáin: Arthur Cox
Pádraig Ó Ríordáin is in his second term as the managing partner of Arthur Cox, one of Ireland's leading law firms. It was recently named European Managing Partner of the Year 2009 at both The Lawyer European Awards and the British Legal Awards.
Pat Cullen: Deloitte
Pat Cullen is managing partner of Deloitte in Ireland. He assumed this role in June 2007, prior to which he was senior partner in charge of the tax function in the Irish firm.
Pat Farrell: Irish Banking Federation
Pat Farrell is chief executive of the Irish Banking Federation (IBF). The IBF is the representative body for the banking and financial services industry in Ireland, representing both retail and international banks.
Pat Molloy: Bank of Ireland
Pat Molloy was appointed to the Bank of Ireland board of directors on June 10th, 2009 and was appointed chairman the following July 3rd. He was group chief executive of Bank of Ireland from 1991 to 1998 and subsequently served as a non-executive director from 1998 to 2001.
Patrick Honohan: Central Bank of Ireland
Patrick Honohan is the 10th Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland and was appointed on September 26th, 2009. Before his appointment as Governor, he was Professor of International Financial Economics and Development at Trinity College Dublin, from 2007. Prior to this, he spent almost a decade at the World Bank, where he was senior advisor on financial sector policy.
Paul Carroll: A&L Goodbody
Paul Carroll is the managing partner of A&L Goodbody. He will step down from this position in May 2010 and will be replaced by Julian Yarr.
Paul Connolly: Connolly Capital
Paul Connolly is the founder and chairman of boutique corporate advisory house, Connolly Capital. He founded the firm to advise growth-oriented Irish companies on funding solutions using international capital markets, particularly in the US, and now also retains a number of non-Irish clients.
Paul Raleigh: Grant Thornton
Paul Raleigh is the managing partner of Grant Thornton in Ireland, which is the Irish member firm of Grant Thornton International, one of the world's leading organisations of independently owned and managed accounting and consulting firms.
Paul Sheeran: HP Financial Services
Paul Sheeran is vice-president and managing director of HP Financial Services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), a position he assumed in January 2007. He is responsible for strategy, business direction, sales and portfolio management in the region.
Peter Carroll: BDO SX
Peter Carroll was appointed to the position of managing partner of BDO Simpson Xavier in June 2008. He joined the firm in 1986 and became a partner in 1996.
Richie Boucher: Bank of Ireland
Richie Boucher was appointed group chief executive of a troubled Bank of Ireland in February 2009.
Roel van Veggel: RaboDirect.ie
Roel van Veggel is general manager of RaboDirect.ie, Ireland's first internet-only bank. Having arrived at RaboDirect in August 2008 at a time of great uncertainty in Irish banking, van Veggel has succeeded in driving momentum behind RaboDirect as a strong challenger brand with a long-term commitment to the Irish market.
Ronan Murphy: PricewaterhouseCoopers
Ronan Murphy is the Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), leading Ireland's largest professional services firm. Under Murphy's leadership, the Firm is a Top 10 Best Company to Work for in Ireland and a popular graduate employer.
Roy Barrett: Goodbody Stockbrokers
Roy Barrett is the managing director at Goodbody Stockbrokers, Ireland's longest established stockbroking firm with roots dating back to 1877.
Sean Conlon: Conlon & Co
Sean J Conlon has become one of real estate's leading entrepreneurs. Before emigrating from Ireland to America in 1990, Conlon attended the College of Marketing and Design in Dublin and worked as a credit analyst for Middle East Bank in London. Upon his arrival in America, Conlon - while working in various buildings within the city - soon learned that there was an immense opportunity in real estate.
Sean Quinn: Quinn Group
The Quinn Group has its strategic centre located along the Cavan/Fermanagh border, with its founder, Sean Quinn, as its chairman and managing director. One of the most successful entrepreneurs in Ireland, he is the wealthiest businessmen in the country and has consistently held top positioning on the yearly Irish Times Rich List.
Sean Twomey: Eugene F. Collins
In May 2009, Seán Twomey succeeded David Cantrell as managing partner of Eugene F. Collins. One of Ireland's leading law practices, Eugene F. Collins consists of 20 partners and 80 fee-earners, and covers a wide range of practice areas with a particular emphasis on corporate and banking, commercial property, corporate recovery, intellectual property and information technology.
Simon Wainwright: HSBC Ireland
Simon Wainwright was appointed as chief executive officer for HSBC Bank plc Ireland in January 2008. He is responsible for all HSBC businesses in Ireland, employing over 500 people in private bank, corporate banking, securities services and insurance.
Terence O'Rourke: KPMG
Terence O'Rourke is managing partner of KPMG in Ireland. KPMG is a leading firm of chartered accountants and business advisers, with 79 partners and 1,800 people, providing a wide range of audit, tax and advisory services to clients from offices in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast.
Thomas Moran: Mutual of America
Renowned businessman and philanthropist, Thomas J Moran has made a significant contribution to business and charitable organisations throughout the years. As president and CEO of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, which specialises in providing pension and retirement-related products and services, Moran is widely regarded as a determined business professional and a dedicated humanitarian.
Tom Kavanagh: Kavanagh Fennell
Tom Kavanagh is a partner of Kavanagh Fennell, specialists in corporate recovery and insolvency services. Since its formation in 1997 the firm has become a leader in the field, with Kavanagh alone handling over 300 formal insolvency appointments in the past five years, as well as many large corporate recovery assignments.
William Slattery: State Street Corporation
William Slattery is executive vice-president, head of European offshore domiciles and country head in Ireland for State Street Corporation.
