Participants' Profiles 2010 - 2011

Estelle Alley

Estelle has a BA in Business and Economics from Trinity College and a Diploma in Management from the IMI. Following graduation she joined the Kerry Group Graduate programme and after working in various sales and marketing roles she became National Account Manager dealing with the key Irish retailer Dunnes Stores. Most recently, Estelle worked with Dunnhumby Ireland as a Tesco Business Consultant based in Tesco Ireland Head Office.

Margaret Berry

Margaret has a BA from Trinity College Dublin and an MSc in Food Business from UCC which included a placement in NPD with Cuisine de France. Following graduation she worked as an Export Marketing Executive on the Consumer Goods Team with Enterprise Ireland in London. More recently, Margaret was Purchasing Manager for the food sourcing team at La Rousse Foods in Dublin.

Katrin Bester

Katrin has a BA in International Business and Languages from DIT. Following graduation, Katrin worked in the hospitality industry for one year. She then spent one year with Bord Bia in their German office as Marketing Assistant as part of the IBEC Export Orientation Programme, whilst also obtaining a Diploma in International Business Development from DIT. In this role she worked with Irish companies exporting to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Roseita Burke

Roseita has a BSc in Tourism Marketing from DIT and spent a year as a Marketing Executive with an Irish hotel group, before teaching English in South Korea for 14 months. She returned to Ireland and was Marketing Executive and subsequently Marketing Manager of Emo Oil (ROI) for over three years before joining the Fellowship, working on business to consumer and business to business marketing projects nationwide.

Hazel Chu

Hazel has a BA in Politics & History from UCD and qualified as a barrister from King’s Inns. She has worked as events and funding consultant as well as project manager for many charities such as MS Ireland, UNICEF and St Michael’s House. She was assistant manager for artist hospitality in festivals such as Electric Picnic. She was also a director of her family-owned restaurant group, acting as Operations Manager.

Ciara Conifrey

Ciara has a BA in French and Italian from UCD and a Diploma in Online Marketing and Advertising from the Fitzwilliam Institute. She has extensive sales experience having worked for Neopost Ireland and Canon Business Solutions in Business Development roles. Ciara also worked for IBM Ireland for 5 years in a technical capacity.

Mary Clare Curran

Mary Clare has a BA in Natural Sciences from Trinity College and a Higher Diploma in Business Studies from UCD Smurfit School. Following graduation Mary Clare spent four years in a marketing role with a Film Sales company, working with both international and Irish production companies and financiers. In addition to spending time abroad she spent two years working in the not-for-profit sector in Dublin

Leah Dempsey

Leah has a BA in Business and Social Studies from Trinity College. As part of her degree, she spent a year in Russia. She has since gained valuable experience in varied marketing, communications and project management roles with Failte Ireland, Dublin City BID and most recently managing a nationwide campaign for the Irish Heart Foundation.

Lisa Doberenz

Lisa has a BA in International Business and Languages (English & Spanish) from DIT. After graduation, she participated in Kepak’s Management Trainee Programme (EOP) based in Ireland and Spain whilst also obtaining a Diploma in International Business Development. Following the successful completion of the programme, she joined Kepak as European Sales Support Executive.

Lorna Duffy

Lorna has a BA in Communication Studies from Dublin City University. Prior to joining the Fellowship, Lorna spent 4 years as a Regional Account Manager at Eircom, where she gained extensive experience in Business Development, Relationship Management, and Marketing Communications.  Prior to that Lorna held a Market Research role working for Bell Communications Ltd in Dublin.

Fiona Fitzgerald

Fiona has a BSc Nutritional Science from University College Cork and has also completed an I.I.P.M.M Certificate in Purchasing and Supply Management. After graduation Fiona joined Green Isle Foods in Naas working as an Account Technologist before moving to Dunnes Stores working in their head office. Fiona spent four years in product development in various categories including meat, seafood and bread and cakes.

Ríona Flood

Ríona Flood has a BSc in International Business with languages (French & Spanish) from DCU. Following graduation she spent two years on the Jameson Graduate Programme, the first year in Spain as Jameson Brand Ambassador with Pernod Ricard España, followed by a year working as Customer Marketing Executive for OnTrade based in Ireland with Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard.

Patricia Gouldsbury

Patricia holds a BBS from Blanchardstown Institute of Technology. She held a Sales and Marketing position in a leading retail chain before spending a year in Australia where she worked in a Recruitment Consultancy. Following that, she spent 5 years in Telecommunications dealing with a broad range of industry segments as a Business Development Manager and Key Account Manager.

Carol Hession

Carol graduated from NUI Galway with a BComm and Spanish and subsequently completed the MBS at UCD Smurfit School. Carol worked with Kerry Group for four years, where she held roles in marketing and communications. During this period, she graduated from the IMI with a Diploma in Management Practice. In 2007, Carol joined the Carr Group to take on the position of Marketing and Business Development Manager.

Sylvain Lagathu

Sylvain has an MSc in International Business from ESC Bretagne Brest, France. Following graduation he spent 3 years as Sales Representative for Unilever in Paris before joining the Fellowship.

Patricia Lynch

Patricia has a BComm (European with German) from UCC. Following graduation, she joined Dairygold Food Ingredients Sales Division on their Graduate Training Programme. She then spent just over four years as Assistant Operations Manager with Shoes for Crews Europe, an American safety footwear supplier based in Shannon, Co. Clare.

Paul McPhillips

Paul has a BA in European Studies with French and Italian from Trinity College. Following completion he moved to Italy where he lectured in the Universities of Catania and Milan. He also established and ran a language and conference services business for seven years. He returned to Ireland in 2008, completed an MA in Communications at DCU and worked in public affairs consulting before being selected for the Fellowship.

Veronica Miller

Veronica holds a BA in European Studies (Russian & French) from Trinity College Dublin. Following graduation, Veronica spent one year a as project manager in the Moscow office of Word Perfect Translations, as part of the IBEC Export Orientation Programme.

Peter Monaghan

Peter has a BSc (Marketing) from DIT. He spent 2 years in sales with GSK for 2 years, working with products like Ribena, Lucozade, Sensodyne and Panadol. He has taken part in additional projects involving IT systems and sales force automation and has also previously worked for GE Money and Cadburys.

Eugenio Mourino

Eugenio has a BComm from UCD which he completed at CESUGA. He also holds an MBS in Marketing from UCD Smurfit School. He has a background in the IT industry, having worked as a Product Manager for 3 years in distribution. Prior to that he worked in market research and engineering.

Carol Murphy

Carol has a BSc in Information Systems and Software Engineering from LIT and a Diploma in Project Management from DBS. She spent over four years in the United States working within the business operations arena before returning to Ireland to work as a project manager with a boutique design, advertising and marketing agency in Dublin.

Pat O'Leary

Pat has a BA in Business Administration from the University Of Derby. He previously worked in marketing in London with RAC and International Air Transport Association. Following his return to Ireland, he worked in various sales positions with Diageo, The Wrigley Company and Irish Life. Prior to joining the Fellowship he was a Territory Manager with Danone Baby Nutrition.

Conor O’Rourke

Conor has a B.Sc in Marketing from Dublin Institute of Technology. Following graduation he joined the Musgrave Graduate Programme. He spent 2 years as a buyer with responsibility for the Catering Dairy and Convenience Foods Categories for both Musgrave Cash and Carries and Musgrave Foodservices before joining the Fellowship programme.

Lisa Rowan

Lisa has a BSc in Food Business from UCC and went on to work in the food industry in buying, new product development and marketing functions. She has worked in multiple and convenience retailers and in a major meat and dairy manufacturer and brand owner.

Guoliang Sun

Guoliang has a BSc in Physical Education from Shenyang Physical University and a Masters in Management from UCD Smurfit School. He started a food processing business in Dublin and managed this for almost 2 years. Before coming to Ireland, Guoliang spent about two years time as a General Manager with Dalian Langman Travel Agency in China.





The 2012 Bord Bia Fellowship is now closed for applications

Bord Bia Marketing Fellowship