Meet The Board

An economist by training, Gerard O’Neill is chairman of Amárach Research, where he also leads the firm’s strategic consulting practice, working with senior management teams to create resilient strategies for the future. He was previously business planning manager at An Post. Gerard is a graduate of the London School of Economics. In 2014 he was appointed a member of the National Statistics Board, the statutory body overseeing the development of official statistics in Ireland. Gerard is a director of AIMRO, the Association of Irish Market Research Organisations. He was previously chairman of the Marketing Society. His book, 2016: A New Proclamation for A New Generation, is published by Mercier Press. He is currently a member of the Covid-19 Communications and Behavioural Advisory Group in the Department of Health. Gerard is a Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

Fiona Sweeney is Strategic Marketing Director for End Use Markets across Europe and Russia for Kerry Group, responsible for leading the marketing team to devise the B2B strategy, value proposition and Kerry offering for prioritised international markets. She had previously been Marketing Director for the Kerry Foods Dairy Consumer branded portfolio in Britain and Ireland where she was responsible for the strategic growth and development of category leading brands like Dairygold, Cheestrings, LowLow and Charleville, and during which time she led her team to several successes at the All Ireland Marketing Awards. Prior to that, Fiona was Head of Marketing with Superquinn. Earlier in her career, she established her credentials in brand management, having held the role of Coca-Cola Brand Manager, and before that the role of Guinness Brand Manager. Fiona holds a BSc degree from Dublin Institute of Technology, now Technological University Dublin, where she graduated with first class honours.

Pat Mannion is Commercial Director Ireland with JCDecaux, the largest outdoor advertising corporation in the world which every day reaches more than 410 million people across the planet. Here in Ireland the company is ‘out of home’ market leader with offices in Dublin and Belfast. Since joining the business 15 years ago, Pat has been instrumental in a series of innovative developments that have underpinned the company’s leadership position, and he has led his team to wins at the All Ireland Marketing Awards on a number of occasions. Pat had previously spent over a decade in advertising sales management in both print and radio, including a significant period with Communicorp’s independent radio station 98FM. Pat is a Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

Cera Ward is Director and Country Manager for Large Customer Sales (LCS) with Google Ireland, where she leads the company’s first ever team dedicated to the Irish market, offering Google’s advertising and wider product suite – Adwords, YouTube, TrueView, Google Display Network, Mobile – across all verticals and sectors. She has led strategies to educate the market on the business potential of digital, and she has devised market development initiatives to scale Google’s market reach. Cera joined Google in 2011 after nine years at national radio station Newstalk, where she had led the company’s national sales team. She is a regular keynote speaker and panellist at business, marketing and digital events, and she chairs the IAB Ireland Search Council. Cera is qualified in Media and Broadcast Journalism and she is a graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology, now Technological University Dublin, where she earned the Graduateship of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

Tom Kinsella is Managing Director, Homes at AIB where he leads the bank’s activities to meet the Homes needs of customers across the AIB, EBS and Haven brands, and encompassing the core functions of strategy, product and proposition design, risk management, sales and customer experience (CX). He had previously been Chief Marketing Officer with AIB and he was to the fore in rebuilding the brand, changing the culture and instilling purpose, and he led his team to multiple successes in the All Ireland Marketing Awards. Tom’s background was in the drinks industry. Having joined the Guinness Ireland graduate programme, he went on to spend over 20 years at Diageo in a variety of marketing roles working locally and internationally across Europe, Asia and the Americas on a wide range of leading brands, including over four years as Global Marketing Director of Baileys. Tom holds a B.Comm degree from University College Dublin, and he is a Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

Liam McDonnell is CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Ireland, Ireland’s leading media and digital communications group with 130 staff and billings of €148m, which is a fully owned subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Dentsu Inc, and which delivers its services and products through its four operating brands in Ireland – Carat, iProspect, Vizeum and Isobar. Having started his career as a media buyer at specialist agency The Media Bureau, Liam has held board positions with Saatchi&Saatchi Dublin and Irish International BBDO. Liam has previously been a board member and latterly President of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI). Having started his career as a media planner, Liam has been in general management for almost two decades and has worked with many leading Irish and International brands. Liam is a Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

Allen Kiernan is a financial consultant and acts as a freelance Finance Director to a number of small and medium companies.

Prior to that, Allen was Chief Financial Officer of BBDO Dublin (formerly Irish International Advertising), one of the largest marketing and communications agencies in the country, where he spent the majority of his working career.

A Chartered Accountant by training, Allen started his career in Deloitte, before moving into industry.

Allen also works with Enterprise Ireland as a business mentor, helping to guide companies from all sectors navigate the perils of Covid and beyond. He also delivers training courses to members of the Small Firms Association on topics such as ‘Accelerating Growth’ and ‘Increasing Business Value’

Allen is the Honorary Treasurer of The Advertising Benevolent Society, a charity which looks after those in the advertising and marketing community who are going through difficult times.

He is also a director of Medicinema Ireland, a charity which looks to improve the recovery of hospitalised children through the medium of film.

Gary is Managing Partner and co-founder of Genesis, which was established in 1995.  Genesis is a leading strategy advisory firm specialising in value creation through customer and market strategy and organisation engagement.  Its clients include leading Irish and international companies and organisations.Prior to forming Genesis Gary was a founding partner and Managing Director of Ireland’s first multi-disciplinary marketing communications company which was acquired in 1994.

Gary has spent her entire career in advisory roles and has contributed to the creation, development and re-positioning of some of Ireland’s leading companies and brands. Her work at Genesis includes complex stakeholder facilitation; innovation; customer experience design; organisation engagement; corporate and brand strategy.  She also coaches a number of senior business people.