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.
Kevin Hart has over 20 years of experience in fraud, corruption and money laundering investigations. He is an associate managing director in Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps, based in Dublin, Ireland. In this podcast, Kevin explains to Legal Editor Francesca Comyn how businesses can secure their intellectual property assets, and what Kroll can do for clients when their IP is compromised or attacked.
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Adrian Acosta moved to Ireland in his mid-twenties. After working on a project with the entrepreneur Brian Fallon, he agreed to help launch Journal Media. Ten years on, The Journal has become a mainstay of the Irish media landscape and has a string of sub brands. He tells Ian Kehoe about his own personal journey, the economics of free news, the perils of click-bait and the company’s plans for the future.
After 30 years in cyber security, both in government and in massive private enterprises, Andrew Beckett, EMEA Cyber Risk Practice Leader with Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps, outlines findings from the frontline of cyber crime. In this sponsored podcast he tells Legal Editor Francesca Comyn the actionable steps organizations must take in the face of ever-more sophisticated attacks.
Hugo MacNeill was a renowned Irish rugby player, being on a team that secured two Triple Crown victories. After rugby, he went on to become Managing Director Ireland of Investment Banking in Goldman Sachs but recently stepped back from the role to pursue public office in a bid to win a seat in the Seanad.
Howard Cooper is a managing director in the Business Intelligence and Investigations practice and co-head of the Global Financial Investigations practice at Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps. In this podcast, he talks to Francesca Comyn about investigating illicit fund flows, probing bank frauds and uncovering money laundering.
Sharon Barrett is a director in the Dublin office of Duff & Phelps. With a background in banking and finance, Sharon’s key areas of expertise are in advisory & restructuring, and more recently in asset-tracing and investigations. In this podcast, she talks to Francesca Comyn about some of the techniques Kroll use in asset searching investigations, and how small online clues can help crack a case open.
Sports psychologist Jim Afremow has trained 17 Olympic gold medalists and worked with teams like the San Francisco Giants. His best selling book on winning mentality called ‘The Champion’s Mind’ has sold over 800,000 copies. In this podcast, Dublin entrepreneur Dave Kearney tells The Currency’s Cait Caden how he teamed up with Afremow to create a sports psychology app to train sports stars to reach for gold and never settle for silver.
Gary McGann is one of the most experienced businessmen in Ireland. He led international paper and packaging giant Smurfit Kappa for 17 years. He was chairman of Paddy Power Betfair when it merged with the Star Group to create the world’s biggest online betting giant Flutter. It has not all been easy. He was a non-executive director of Anglo Irish Bank during the final years of Ireland’s property bubble. He is also chairman of baking group Aryzta which has endured its own travails but has now turned a corner.
Lucinda Creighton is a former Minister of State for European Affairs and she was one of the youngest ever members of the Dáil when she was first elected at just 27. A trained barrister she later left Fine Gael and founded the political party Renua. She talks to Sam Smyth about the highs and lows of her political career and her reaction to the recent election. She also talks about setting up her own business Vulcan Consulting, her views on Brexit and who she believes will ultimately emerge as Taoiseach in the coming weeks.
A former FBI officer, Jason Smolanoff is now a senior managing director and Global Cyber Risk Practice Leader with Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps. In this sponsored podcast, Smolanoff talks to Francesca Comyn about the world of cyber-attacks, computer hacking, market manipulation and asset tracing.
