Interviews
We invited leaders in business and academia to be interviewed for this action plan. Many had never given interviews before on the subject of female leadership. Their insights and perspectives were not only inspirational for us but helped us to shape the solutions we have developed. Read the full interviews below.
MICHAEL BUCKLEY
Michael Buckley is a founder and Chair of the Chairs’ Advisory Board of the 30% Club Ireland, the business network which aims to achieve 30% female representation in senior management by 2020. He is Chairman of KKR Alternative Investment Managers and of KKR Credit Advisers (Ireland) and holds several other non-executive roles. He is a former Group CEO of AIB and Chair of DCC.
This interview was conducted by Aileen O’Toole in September 2017.
PETER BARRETT
Peter Barrett is CEO of SMBC Aviation Capital, the leading global aircraft leasing company which is headquartered in Dublin. It also has representation in China, France, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United States.
This interview was conducted by Clodagh Hughes in October 2017.
PROFESSOR NIAMH BRENNAN
Professor Niamh Brennan established UCD’s Centre for Corporate Governance in 2002 and is a leading authority on corporate governance in Ireland and internationally. She is Michael MacCormac Professor of Management at UCD.
This interview was conducted by Carol Bolger in September 2017.
DAVID HARNEY
David Harney is the CEO of Irish Life, one of Ireland’s leading financial services companies with more than a million customers. With a total workforce of 2,400 employees, Irish Life operates in life insurance, pension, investment and health insurance markets.
This interview was conducted by Clodagh Hughes in October 2017.
MARIE MOYNIHAN
Marie Moynihan is Senior Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition, Dell EMC. From a Dublin base, she leads a 500-strong HR team servicing the company’s operations in 180 countries. Dell EMC has 140,000 staff globally and has a number of gender balance initiatives which have grown the cohort of women in leadership roles. Currently the gender split in its executive leadership team in its commercial business for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) is 50/50. Marie was a WoW mentor.
This interview was conducted by Aileen O’Toole in September 2017.
LIZ CUNNINGHAM
Liz Cunningham is Google’s Director of Tax for EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). She is the Executive Sponsor of Women@Google, a network within the company, which provides mentoring and other supports to female employees. The headcount for Google’s Irish operations between staff (called Googlers) and contractors is around 6,000.
This interview was conducted by Aileen O’Toole in October 2017.
PAT GUNNE
Pat Gunne is Chief Executive Officer of Green REIT plc, the publicly-quoted property company which has a portfolio of commercial property interests. The company has €1.4bn of property assets and is based in Dublin. Pat is a former European Director of CBRE, the world’s largest commercial estate agency.
This interview was conducted by Florence Stanley in September 2017.
PROFESSOR JOYCE O’CONNOR
Professor Joyce O’Connor is the Founding President of the National College of Ireland and has particular interest in the area of gender balance. She has held several non-executive roles in the private, public and voluntary sectors. Currently she is a professional coach and mentor to CEOs and other leaders. She is an Eisenhower Fellow.
This interview was conducted by Aileen O’Toole in October 2017.
KENNETH CARROLL
Kenneth Carroll is founder and Managing Director of Carroll Food Services, one of the largest independent contract catering companies in Ireland. Based in Ringsend in Dublin, the business was set up in in 1994 and currently employs 40 staff.
This interview was conducted by Clodagh Hughes in October 2017.
MARK RYAN
Mark Ryan is a former Country Managing Director for Accenture. He is the Chair of Blueface and a Non-Executive Director of Wells Fargo Bank International, Immedis and Econiq He is a board member of the Abbey Theatre.
This interview was conducted by Clodagh Hughes in October 2017.