Leading executives join Fáilte Ireland board

Fáilte Ireland has appointed two well-known business leaders as non-executive members of its board.

Joe Dolan, hotelier, The Bush Hotel, Leitrim, and Stephen Dowling, global vice president of digital for the sports firm Adidas, have agreed to join the tourism authority’s board.

Joe Dolan both owns and operates the Bush Hotel, a three-star property located in the heart of Carrick-on-Shannon. The 60-bedroom boutique hotel is one of the oldest in Ireland and is widely recognised for its environmental sustainability.

He is a graduate of NUIG he also holds a PhD from QUB and a Tourism Strategy Diploma from Cornell State University.

Mr Dolan is long associated with tourism in Leitrim, was main sponsor of Leitrim GAA for nine years and is a former Leitrim Person of the Year. He is a project director for Gunpowder Gin and the Shed Distillery Visitor Experience, a former president of the Irish Hotels Federation, and an advocate for rural economic development, notably through balanced sustainable tourism.

Stephen Dowling is global vice president of digital for the sports firm Adidas, based in global headquarters at Herzogenaurach, Germany. He was born in Dublin and has a BBS and MSC Marketing from Technical University Dublin.

Between 2007 and 2017 he worked and lived internationally for Unilever in various e-commerce, sales, digital and new business model leadership positions. Mr Dowling has an advanced management programme diploma from MIT, a corporate innovation diploma from Stanford Graduate School of Business and in 2019 completed the Adidas Harvard Business School executive development programme.

Fáilte Ireland Authority chairman, Michael Cawley, said: “I am delighted to welcome the two new members to the board where their skills, expertise and commitment will be a valuable addition to our deliberations as Fáilte Ireland seeks to develop Irish tourism and assist the sector to maximise the potential it has to create employment, generate revenue and contribute to the nation’s economic progress.”

The appointments were announced by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross: “Tourism is a vital contributor to our economy and supports 265,000 jobs. The two new appointments to are all well qualified for the positions. I believe their skills and experience will be a great asset to the work of Fáilte Ireland in supporting and developing the Irish tourism sector.”