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.
For 20 years, Marian O'Gorman has been Chief Executive of the iconic, family-run, Kilkenny Group. In this podcast, she talks to Alison Cowzer about succession, acrimony, the importance of championing Irish designers and the future of the retail brand. She also explains why she wants Irish businesses to rally behind Green Friday
Brid Horan broke the mould by becoming Ireland's first female actuary. Not that she planned it that way. In this interview, the former deputy chief executive of the ESB and cofounder of the 30% club talks to Alison Cowzer about her impressive career, leadership, pensions, and why gender balance matters
From Eircom to Quinn Insurance, he was the go to insolvency expert during the economic crash, handling some of the biggest corporate failures of the era. Ian Kehoe talks business with Grant Thornton Managing Partner Michael McAteer.
Sam Smyth meets Tony Boyle, who continues to seek justice over the awarding of the state’s second mobile phone licence to Denis O’Brien’s Esat. It has been an exhausting and costly battle, but, steeled by the findings of the Moriarty Tribunal, he is not giving up.
"We do things very simply. We have state of the art logistics." Breege O'Donoghue spent 37 years at the top of global giant Primark. Here she talks value, ambition, and the very DNA of the retail trade
An Post CEO David McRedmond has held leading roles in the communications sector including with TV3 and eir. He tells Sam Smyth about taking on the banks, maintaining government investment in the countryside and making money from broadcasting – all in the face of digital transformation.
In an in depth interview, the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform talks about overhauling the Department’s culture post-crisis, the institutional reforms that have taken place and the need for a robust public debate around the political economy of spending.
Having earned his spurs in a global trade dispute over bananas, Philip Lee has built one of the state’s prominent law firms. So just how did he do it, what would he change about the system, and what are his plans for the future?
Michael Dawson has had a varied career. He started out in politics in the late 70s, booked out the RDS for Italia 90, built up the business One4All and sold it for €100 million. In this podcast, he talks to Alison Cowzer about his personal journey, revealing lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Paschal Taggart has been at the heart of Irish business for more than four decades. In this exclusive interview with Sam Smyth, he talks about how a man from Antrim became a pillar of Irish commerce.
