Who I am
To understand me and what drives me on daily you have to understand my history.
Firstly, there is Limerick. It is a unique place; it always has been. I love the place. I was so lucky when my parents chose this as our home. Of course, at 4 years of age, I was not given much say in the decision.
In all honesty, I think deep down humans are happiest when they can "work" on a legacy project that is meaningful to them. Recovered from cancer, this has become even more important for me. But even well before falling ill, my driver was to do my bit, locally, nationally and at EU level, expending energy and time willingly, to make the place I love to call home the best it can be.
Here, the people are special, we have a genuine community, and Limerick has incredible history and traditions. I like many others, take immense pride in being a Limerick native. I will always defend Limerick and never apologise for my unwavering ambition for Limerick. But I will also be honest about our challenges. And, I will never tire of advocating and working to improve Limerick; it’s my home.
Early Life in Limerick: My upbringing has shaped me profoundly. My parents, hailing from West Limerick and East Kerry, returned from Birmingham to our farm in Mungret/Patrickswell. They instilled in all us kids the value of education and hard work whilst emphasising the importance of integrity and kindness.
Growing up amidst the economic challenges of the 1970s and 1980s, I watched first-hand the struggles of my parents dealing with economic forces beyond their control. Nonetheless, my strongest memories are of a vibrant and enjoyable Limerick childhood filled with school, friends, activities and family.
The experiences of working alongside my dad on building sites and mum and dad on the farm and time spent on my uncle's farm in Athea, have left an indelible mark. It’s my backbone, the core of who I am.
But our journey is also influenced by those we encounter. I feel so fortunate and deeply grateful for the mentors, teachers, colleagues and friends who have played a crucial role in shaping me. Working closely with global policy makers like former head of the IMF, Jacques de Larosiere and Werner Hoyer, President of the EIB, but equally importantly my time at St Paul’s National School and CBS Sexton Street which set me up to become the first in my family to attend university. This educational path included my UCD Law degree and a Masters from the Wharton and Law Schools at the University of Pennsylvania.
Thereafter, I entered the legal field, passed the New York Bar and spent three formative years as one of the youngest lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell on Wall Street, a leading global legal advisor to corporates and national governments. Following a detour to Italy for a World Cup in 1990, I returned to join Tony Ryan's GPA on Shannonside. I qualified as an Irish solicitor and an associate of the Institute of Taxation of Ireland while working and travelling globally.
I next took charge of the New York office of Irish lawfirm McCann Fitzgerald, advising US clients setting up operations in Ireland, managing aviation finance deals, and assisting CIE with a US financing of rolling stock. During the next ten years working for Zurich Financial Services I established and lead Zurich Bank in Dublin before being promoted to oversee the company's Asian operations from Sydney and later the multi-billion dollar global ZCM operations in New York.
In 2004, during a much-needed career-break in France, I attended the Cordon Bleu culinary school and took French lessons at La Sorbonne in Paris. These valuable skills helped when I opened a juice bar and restaurant in rural France near Toulouse.
In a pivotal decision in 2010 that reshaped my life and perspective, I entered public service to help guide Ireland's recovery from the Great Recession following the collapse of Lehham Brothers and all else that followed. Thrust into the national and global spotlight, I worked under intense pressure with crucial decisions to make. Initially, as a senior bank supervisor at the Central Bank with Patrick Honohan, I later became top civil servant in Michael Noonan's Department of Finance. There, guided by Michael's experience and strategic nous, I played a key role managing troika bailout negotiations, selling Bank of Ireland and Irish Life, addressing huge gaps in government funding, mass unemployment, emigration, and the collapse of the banking system—challenges reminiscent of experiences from the 1970s, albeit much more severe.
I had defined my success taking up that role to be Ireland’s return to the funding markets, the end of the troika programme and a turn-around in rising unemployment. There was no time to be wasted. With the job done, thanks to an amazing team of dedicated public servants and friends, I could return to Limerick for the third time in my life.
I have also achieved other milestones, important to me on a personal basis, like opening the garden at the Hunt Museum and in many ways the collection of the Hunt itself to a broader more inclusive public, including sposoring a Community Garden in honour of my dad, helping Narrative 4 to open their HQ on O’Connell Street, and bringing the EIB art collection to Limerick for “Belonging” in 2020, its first time ever to a non-capital European city.
More recently, I have seen Shannon Airport, the Limerick Tunnel and Takumi in which I have played a management role all deliver record results. And Grid Finance of which I am chair has become the first B Corp financial services business in Ireland.
But life is not all about work. My return to Limerick was, most of all, a time to help with Dad’s remaining years battling Parkinson’s and spend some special moments with him. The rallying of our community of friends in Limerick to support our family at that time and again recently while I successfully battled my own cancer have only reinforced in me that the decision to choose Georgian Limerick as our future home is absolutely the right one.
Above all, this decision is right for me because Limerick has transformed into a multicultural city with notable economic prosperity, a far cry from the place I grew up in. My pride in Limerick's success, especially during sports events, is immense, but my most poignant and heartfelt moment was being welcomed at the Limerick Chamber dinner with my partner Damien in ways I had never believed possible when I left years before.
From a young age, my parents instilled in us the ambition to strive to be the best we can be. When I look at Limerick, despite the progress, I can't help but see communities still left behind and the untapped potential within our region. This need not be our reality. In our city, towns, villages and unspoilt natural countryside we have the foundations on which to build a much more vibrant region. We have thousands of graduating talented young adults ever year and unlimited supply of clean energy off our shores. Regions the world over would kill for one half of what we have.
