In 2001, Peter McKenna was on the corporate fast track at Smurfit in the publishing business. But a conversation with mentor Paddy Wright planted the seed for a dramatic career pivot as stadium director of Croke Park. When he took over, the stadium was under construction and loss-making. Last year, it had annual revenues of €132 million and paid a €16 million dividend to the GAA.
McKenna still serves as stadium director but he is also in charge of the GAA’s commercial arrangements and corporate partnerships.
In this episode of Sports Matters, he talks about making the stadium as a financial contributor to the GAA, the decision to take control of the association’s streaming service, and the lessons from his career.
Sports Matters is sponsored by the law firm Whitney Moore.
Manchester City are collapsing and it seems like the end of the Pep Guardiola era but what does this tell us about the Abu Dhabi project. In this podcast, Miguel Delaney talks to Dion Fanning about his book States of Play and how City took over the Premier League. He speaks about the uncertainty at the club now as they wait to hear the result of the 115 charges they are facing and why Rubem Amorim chose Manchester United over City because of this uncertainty.
The former managing partner of PwC Feargal O’Rourke has written a new book chronicling the history of the Irish rugby men’s team during the professional era. The book, From Rags to Riches; The Irish Men’s Team in the Professional Era, is an encyclopedia containing teams and match statistics of each game over the past 29 years, accompanied by more than 700 pictures and QR codes linking to online video highlights.
In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, he discusses how Irish rugby has evolved over the past three decades, and the structure that has allowed it to succeed. He also talks about his new role as chairman of IDA Ireland, what Trump’s trade policies could mean for Irish FDI and his late mother, the political trailblazer Mary O’Rourke.
Gary Murphy has long been one of the country’s most prescient and articulate political analysts. And, unlike many of his academic contemporaries, Murphy is not afraid to share his views. However, in an age of online abuse, he understands why many of his younger colleagues opt to stay off the airwaves. In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, the DCU politics professor also talks about his roots in Cork, how he got interested in politics, and how politics itself has changed over the decades. He also talks about how Irish political parties have shifted to the left, as evidenced by the economic platforms of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. He gives his views on Sinn Fein, the independents, and the electoral malaise of the parties of the soft left.
There has been a surge in Irish deals involving both domestic and international private equity firms. The finance house Renatus has identified 49 deals that were completed with private equity firms in the first nine months of this year, up from 20 deals for the same period last year.
But just how do you know if private equity is the right fit for your business? And if you decide that it is, how do you prime your business for private equity?
In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, Gerard Hughes, a partner at the accounting firm Baker Tilly, explains the issues that companies must weigh up before deciding to take private equity investment - from decision-making changes to ownership timeframes. He also talks through seven key considerations for businesses preparing for private equity investment.
Shane Kenny served as Government Press Secretary during the years of the Rainbow Coalition. They were eventful years in Irish life and for the government: the murder of Veronica Guerin, a divorce referendum, Michael Lowry and the murder of Jerry McCabe. But what took up most of Taoiseach John Bruton’s time was the peace process. Shane Kenny believes Bruton has been written out of history. In this podcast he talks to Dion Fanning about why it’s about time Bertie Ahern gave his predecessor some credit.
Eoghan Murphy’s political ascent, through Fine Gael and government, was rapid. So too was his political unravelling. His new book, Running From Office, is a compelling and uncomfortable reflection of that journey. In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, the former housing minister argues that writing about his failures has allowed him to move forward with his life. He also talks about the toxic relationship between politics and politicians, and why he believes politics can corrupt your sense of self, and self-worth. He also talks candidly about his time in office, when he needed to get away from politics, and whether things could have turned out differently.
Donald Trump has completed an historic political comeback, reclaiming the White House with a startling election victory. But what does it mean – for the US, for global politics, and for Ireland? To discuss these issues, and much more besides, Sam Smyth is joined on this podcast by Prof Barry Scheck, the eminent criminal defence lawyer and an early authority on DNA; Joanna Molloy, author, and one-time New York gossip columnist; and Jamie Smyth, US energy editor of The Financial Times, born in Belfast and now based in New York.
The global average cost of a data breach is now €4.49 million.
For many businesses, it can be the difference between success and failure.
And yet, despite the high cost of cyber breaches, less than one in three Irish organisations have implemented robust cyber resilience across their business.
That is according to PwC’s 2025 Digital Trust Insights Survey, the longest-running and the largest annual survey worldwide on cyber security trends.
The study surveyed more than 4,000 businesses and tech executives across 71 countries, including Ireland.
To discuss its findings and the wider issue of cyber security, Ian Kehoe is joined on this episode of The Tech Agenda by Len McAuliffe, a cybersecurity partner with PwC Ireland.
McAuliffe talks about embedding cyber resilience into your business, third-party cyber risks, and why GenAI has given hackers new ways of breaching systems, while simultaneously offering new greater safeguards and defences. This podcast series is sponsored by PwC.
“Money: A Story of Humanity” attempts to tell the history of the world - from 18,000 BC to the present - through the medium of money. "Money has proved to be one of the most seductive and enduring ideas of the past five millennia," writes its author David McWilliams. In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, McWilliams, an economist, columnist and broadcaster, argues that money sits at the core of human evolution, shaping and moulding human, social, and economic life.
AI. Gen AI. Automation. Digitisation. Data Analytics.
Companies know that they have to embrace cutting-edge technologies if they are to remain relevant in the future.
But business leaders are also concerned, fearful, and apprehensive. So too are many workers.
So how they can bridge the gap? How can business leaders make new technologies work for their companies - and their people?
Eoin O’Reilly is a partner with EY in Dublin and the Irish firm’s leader for AI and data. In this role, he helps clients - listed corporations, multinationals, Government, and large private companies - design and deliver data and AI-driven strategies to help grow revenues, optimise cost and manage risk.
In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, O’Reilly talks about the relationship between data and AI, explaining that the quality of AI outputs is proportional to the quality of the data that underpins them. The podcast is sponsored by EY.
O’Reilly talks about how AI can unlock value creation for organisations, and why AI has gone from “can-do” to “must-do” for companies. O’Reilly also talks about how organisations can embrace responsible AI and outlines how EY's AI Labs can help clients of all sizes develop and implement a data and AI strategy.
