Don O’Neill doesn’t speak in slogans. He speaks in stories — slow-burning, salt-air-soaked, stitched through with a kind of quiet resolve. Raised in the small seaside town of Ballyheigue, County Kerry, O’Neill grew up sketching gowns in secret, dreaming of runways far from the Atlantic’s reach. But even as he dressed icons like Oprah and Michelle Obama, the pulse of home never left his designs.
His journey wasn’t a straight line. It zigzagged through kitchens and catwalks, through heartbreak and hard-earned success. O’Neill trained in design in Paris while working restaurant shifts at night. He spent years as Creative Director at THEIA, only to see the brand shutter suddenly — a moment that cracked open his identity but didn’t break his belief. In this episode of Arts Matters, he speaks with Alison Cowzer. Arts Matters is sponsored by HLB Ireland.
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.
Thomas Ennis understands how to work within a franchise model better than most. After all, his eponymous Thomas Ennis Group owns six Spar outlets and one larger Eurospar supermarket, making him one of the largest operators within the BWG family. He also owns three service stations that operate under the Maxol franchise brand. Ennis has managed to work within the strict demands of the franchise brand while also constantly innovating. He was the first Spar franchisee to have a barista on-premises, and he was also among the first to cook all food fresh in the store. In this episode of Franchise Matters, he talks to Alison Cowzer about building a franchise business, how he innovates within the system, and the current state of the retail market. He also reflects upon his own journey - from training as a butcher with FX Buckley to working for the late retail legend Feargal Quinn to getting his chance from the businessman John Clohisey to open his own Spar.
Australian agribusiness veteran John Rich chairs MHP, Ukraine's largest farming and food processing company. On a visit to Dublin, he told Thomas Hubert about the challenges of running a business when staff are mobilised into the army, export routes are closed and capital restrictions lock it out of money markets. From paying veterans' salaries to raising equity from a Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Rich discusses how a modern listed company trades through "World War Three in Europe" and defends the future integration of the Ukrainian agricultural superpower into the European Union.
A new report by PwC and SustainabilityWorks and PwC identified the potential of the Climate Tech sector in Ireland. In this episode of The Tech Agenda, David McGee, PwC’s ESG leader, explains how Climate Tech could be a “double win” for Ireland - helping the country achieve its climate emissions targets while developing a vibrant new economic sector. To help make it happen, McGee tells Ian Kehoe that funding and supports for developing climate technologies should be focused on areas where there is a competitive advantage, instead of trying to address decarbonisation challenges across all economic sectors. This podcast series is sponsored by PwC.
With his business partner Michael Kearney, Ed Murphy turned the Snap Printing franchise into a high street success. They then repeated the trick with Home Instead Senior Care. Murphy succeeded with the video game retailer CeX, but, by his own admission, struggled with Contours Express, a female-focused gum brand. So, what makes a good franchise? And how can a master franchisee ensure they secure the right people on the ground?
In the latest episode of Franchise Matters, Murphy talks to Alison Cowzer about the lessons from his own career, why he believes in the franchise model, and the difference between building a franchise and launching a business from scratch.
With O’Briens Irish Sandwich Bars, Brody Sweeney created a global brand with 340 outlets around the world. When he ceded control of the business during the financial crisis, he dusted himself down and started again. The fast-growing Thai restaurant and delivery business Camile Thai was born. In this episode of Franchise Matters with Alison Cowzer, he talks about his journey and the lessons he learned along the way. It is a journey, he admits, that has both successes and failures.
The world of work is changing. Some of these changes are obvious such as flexible working, hybrid offices and working from home. Others such as automation and GenAI are less clear. The relationship between the employer and the employee, for so long clearly defined, is changing, and those changes are having massive implications for businesses and their most important resources – their staff. In this episode of The Tech Agenda, Susanne Jeffery, director, workforce consulting with PwC, talks to Ian Kehoe about how technology is impacting workplace trends and offers advice on what companies can do to harness the power of their workforce. This podcast series is sponsored by PwC.
Franchising is a huge phenomenon globally. The sector currently has revenues of about one trillion dollars and it is forecast to triple by 2032. It brings global and sometimes local brands to the market, offering entrepreneurs an opportunity to join a group and mould the business around a proven model.
But how does a company know when to adopt a franchise model, and what business person makes a good franchisee? In the first episode of Franchise Matters, Alison Cowzer talks to Dr Rosalind Beere, an expert on the business of franchising. She shares her own experiences in the sector and talks about when the model makes sense, how to avoid trouble, and why franchisees are entrepreneurs in their own right.
