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Participants' Profiles 2011 - 2012

Richard Bissett

Richard has a BA in Business and Economics from Trinity College. After 2 years with Irish Life, Richard worked in a sales and marketing role in the project based e-commerce startup miCandidate.eu from its foundation. He most recently worked with a successful emerging Irish Solar Energy Company before commencing the Bord Bia Fellowship.

Andrew Brennan

After graduating from NUI Maynooth, Andrew spent three years working with an Irish clothing manufacturer. He has spent the last 7 years living and working in Asia. His role as Assistant Director of International Affairs at Keimyung University, Korea, led to extensive work in East Asia. The intercultural experience and Asian business experience from this role were utilised to great effect for a diverse client list as 2011 Bord Bia Fellow for Korea and Japan.

Eimear Carroll

Eimear has a dual degree in European Business and French from Dublin City University and Reims Management School France. Following graduation she began her professional career in France gaining knowledge and expertise in different marketing roles. She spent two years working for Eurosport and Pixmania.com as a Business Development Manager before joining the Fellowship.

Ronan Costello

Ronan graduated from NUI Galway with a BComm and Italian and subsequently completed a H.Dip in Marketing Practice at NUI Galway. During the process of completing his postgraduate course he worked as a Marketing Executive with an Irish Hotel Group. In 2007 Ronan joined the Internet company Booking.com and worked in the online sector as a Regional Account Manager.

Pia Crofton

Pia has a BComm International in Business & German from University College Dublin. Throughout college she worked as a marketing assistant for the Irish distributor of the German pharmaceutical company, Bayer Schering Pharma AG. Following graduation she went on to become a sales consultant under the International Management Trainee programme for Meltwater Group where she quickly became the top seller within the Irish branch of the company.

Laura Crowley

Laura has a BA (International) in Greek and Roman Civilisation and German from UCD, and a MPhil in Mediterranean and Near Eastern Archaeology from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and is about to be awarded a PhD in Archaeology from the VU University, Amsterdam. She has worked for over four years as a researcher and lecturer in Roman Provincial Archaeology in Amsterdam, and has led excavation teams in various parts of the world.

Martin Delaney

Martin has a Bachelor degree in Business Studies from Athlone Institute of Technology. Following graduation he joined Danone Baby Nutrition where he worked as a sales representative covering the east coast and midlands with great success. Martin was subsequently offered a role as a sales development manager with Glanbia Consumer Foods where he managed a territory with the largest turnover within the company.

Heather Feeney

Heather has a BBS and a MSc. in Financial Services from the University of Limerick. Following graduation she spent one year at the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai where she studied Chinese language and cultural behaviour. Prior to joining the Fellowship Heather worked in the not-for-profit and financial sectors in sales support and communication positions in Zurich, Switzerland.

Natallia Hanlon

Natallia graduated from Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus, with a BA in Translation and Linguistics. Prior to joining the Fellowship she spent 6 years as a Sales and Marketing Executive for the French and Benelux markets with Shoes for Crews Europe, an American safety footwear supplier based in Shannon, Co. Clare. In addition to that, she worked as a freelance translator and interpreter providing language services from English and French into Russian.

Niamh Humphreys

Niamh has a Bachelor of Business Studies (Marketing) from University of Limerick. During this Niamh spent time in Holland studying International Marketing and on work placement in the USA. She then spent several years in an Account Management & Business Development capacity mainly in the telecommunications industry where she worked for BT Ireland and Vodafone. More recently Niamh completed a Diploma in Digitaland On-Line Marketing from DMI before joining the Fellowship.

Collette Keenan

Collette has a 2.1 BComm from University College Dublin with a specialisation in marketing. Since graduating in 2008 she has held two senior business development roles in SME’s. Collette has an attractive sales record, including the successful acquirement of two national retailers. Her knowledge of online marketing has allowed her to deliver innovative and cost effective marketing campaigns with impact. Most recently, Collette worked as Fire Restaurant and Venue’s Business Development Manager.

Helen Lalor

Helen has an MA in International Tourism and a BA in Languages and Cultural Studies from University of Limerick. Following graduation she managed the French market for an international tour operator and then progressed to a management role in Guinness Storehouse. She has represented Guinness globally as a Brand Ambassador. Most recently, Helen joined Baileys Global Brand Team in a marketing assistant role with responsibility for project management and digital brand portal management.

Stephen McBrinn

Upon completion of a degree in International Commerce with Spanish from NUI Galway Stephen began working as Brand Ambassador for Jaguar Ireland before moving onto becoming a Marketing Executive with ThinkIrish.ieFollowing this he spent a year working as a Sales & Marketing Executive with O'B Sport, while also studying for a Postgraduate qualification in Digital Marketing from Dublin City University before taking up the opportunity of the Fellowship with Bord Bia."

Richard McKeon

Richard has a Bachelor of Business Studies from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and a Higher Diploma in Management Practice from the IMI. Following a 2 year period in retail, Richard spent 2 years in Australia as Business Development Executive for a gym. He joined Kerry Group as part of their graduate programme in 2008 and spent a year as Business Development Manager for the Freshways and Kerryfresh Brands, before joining the Fellowship.

Cathal Murphy

Cathal joined the fellowship from a position with Teagasc and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), where he was examining novel animal biotechnologies as they apply to the Irish agri-food sector. Previous to this, he recruited for management positions across the Irish food industry with Quorum Search Partners. Cathal holds a bachelors degree from NUI Galway and post-graduate degrees from City University London, and DIT.

Pádraic Nugent

Pádraic has a Master’s degree in Business Management (MiM) from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, as well as a BA in History and Irish from UCD. Pádraic previously worked in the RTÉ Sports Department, being involved in a number of roles such as sub-editor and researcher over a wide range of RTÉ broadcasted sports events . Pádraic also previously worked for the Sunday Times newspaper.

Fiona O’Doherty

Fiona has a BBS in Marketing and Management from LIT and a Diploma in International Hotel Management and Business Studies from Shannon College of Hotel Management. Following graduation she joined the Le Meridien group in London and then Compass group and became Sales Manager for Leith’s at London Zoo. On returning to Ireland she held the position of Sales and Marketing Manager in the 5 star Muckross Park Hotel.

Marie-Therese O’Donohue

Marie-Therese has a BSc. in Marketing from the Dublin Institute of Technology with experience in marketing and business development roles. She completed the An Post sales and marketing graduate programme where she was responsible for brand management of the retail brands, implementing the in-store B2C campaigns. She then worked in a leading Intellectual Property firm FRKelly, delivering the marketing plan on a B2B level and identifying new business opportunities.

Sarah O’Gorman

Sarah holds an LLB in Law and European Studies (French and Politics) from the University of Limerick. Following graduation in 2005, she joined Dublin law firm A&L Goodbody as a trainee solicitor, and qualified into the Commercial Litigation Department, where she remained until commencing the Fellowship. During this time she advised an international client base (including food companies) in addition to assisting the marketing department with new business development.

Aifric O’Reilly

Aifric has a BA in Spanish & Music from UCD. On graduating, she worked for over 2 years in management at an Irish bar & restaurant in Spain, before moving into advertising sales for an English language publication in Madrid for a further 2½ years. She then moved to London where she spent 3 years in magazine distribution, working on the international business development and marketing of magazines for more than 20 publisher clients.

Sara O’Reilly

Sara O’Reilly has a BSc. Hons in Marketing from Ulster University, during which she spent one year in the USA on International placement working for Aer Lingus. Following graduation, Sara was Marketing Manager for a food manufacturer through Parity Food and Drinks Management Programme, which included gaining skills in sales, marketing and NPD while completing a Diploma in Food Manufacturing. Prior to the Fellowship, Sara held a Regional Marketing position in the not-for-profit sector.

Fiona O’Toole

Fiona has a BSc. in Food Business from University College Cork. Following graduation she joined Bord Bia as a Marketing Assistant as part of the EOP Programme. She was based in Frankfurt and after the programme switched to IDA Ireland where she worked as an Assistant Marketing Executive. Fiona worked across various business sectors in IDA Ireland and was involved in winning key inward investment and jobs for Ireland.

Charlie Waters

Charlie has a BSc. in Business Management from DIT. Following graduation he managed an outdoor activity company managing marketing, sales,customer care and consultancy. Most recently, Charlie worked in Pizza Hut Group Ireland where he undertook a Marketing Manager role based in Dublin. Charlie managed all marketing activity and assisted franchisees across Ireland as well as taking up a graphic design role for the group. Charlie launched and grew the Pizza Hut Delivery brand across Ireland.

Susan Weldon

Susan has a National Certificate in Business Studies and Bachelor of Business Studies (marketing) from Waterford Institute of Technology. After graduation she worked as Marketing Co-ordinator with the WIT Research Centre, reporting to the EU commission and travelling throughout Europe. She spent four years as Marketing Executive for Postpoint with An Post and proved her ability to grow a brand and drive sales, resulting in her promotion to Marketing Manager.

John Whelan

John has a BA in International Business and Languages (French and Spanish) with a specialisation in Marketing from DCU. He joined Jameson as an EOP and later was promoted to the international brand team in Pernod Ricard Spain. Here he spent over two years working on various brands including the market leader Ballantine’s Finest. He returned from a year of travelling primarily in South America to join the Fellowship.

Yan Zhao

Yan has been resident in Ireland since 2003. She is fluent English and native Mandarin and in her role as Marketing Advisor with Bord Bia she has been instrumental in helping Irish food clients enter and increase their presence in the Chinese market. Yan was previously Marketing Consultant with Red Squirrel Education where she successfully established a number of strategic relationships between Irish and Chinese educational institutions and created new income streams within the Chinese market.

Bord Bia Marketing Fellowship