Business Movers
New roles: (top row) Emma-Louise Hannigan, Brendan O'Connor, Ciara Gibney; (bottom row) Ross O'Connor, Laura Farrell, Martina Mahon.
Here is a selection of people starting new roles with HLM Architects, Adare Manor, Kinetic, Xtremepush, the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland and Mazars.
Emma-Louise Hannigan has been appointed as education sector lead with HLM Architects, based in its Belfast studio. She brings 10 years' experience working in Australia with Melbourne-based Woods Bagot architects, working in planning, design and realisation of new generation learning spaces. She led teams of up to 15 in-house staff members for Woods Bagot on projects ranging in value from AUD$1m to AUD$60m and size from 1,000m2 to 26,000m2. Emma-Louise studied architecture at University College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast. HLM was recently awarded Architectural Practice of the Year 2020 by Building Magazine; it has studios in London, Sheffield, Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff and Dubai.
Brendan O’Connor has been promoted to general manager at Adare Manor, the five-star castle property on an 840-acre estate in Adare, Co Limerick. He brings 18 years’ experience in the global premium hospitality industry to the role. He joined Adare Manor in 2015 as director of food and beverage, leading an extensive restoration project; in 2018, he was promoted to resident manager. Prior to this, he held senior roles with hotels around the world, including Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman, Sheen Falls Hotel in Kerry and the Waldorf Astoria in New York. He has also held senior hospitality management roles during Summer and Winter Olympic Games, giving him experience with high profile sporting occasions. Adare Manor is due to host the prestigious Ryder Cup in 2027.
Ciara Gibney has been promoted to marketing manager with out of home (OOH) communications agency Kinetic. She will be responsible for implementing Kinetic’s external digital communications strategy. Working closely with senior management, she will take an active role in the company’s overall communications strategy and will utilise her traditional, digital marketing and social media skills to actively engage with key audiences and brands. She joined Kinetic in 2016 as an operations executive, where she developed her skills in traditional and digital marketing. She was promoted to senior account executive on the marketing team in 2019. Ciara holds a degree in Marketing, Digital Media and Cloud Computing from Dublin Business School.
Ross O’Connor has been appointed director of account management at Xtremepush, the Irish-owned global SaaS customer engagement platform, headquartered in Dublin. He will oversee teams in Ireland, UK and US. He has experience building businesses across the global MarTech and SaaS industry space. Over the past 10 years he has managed teams within Google, RTÉ and NextRoll, formerly the AdRoll Group. Ross holds an MSc and BSc in Marketing from TUD and is a graduate of The UCD Smurfit School, with post-graduate qualifications in Leadership, Innovation and Change and in High Performance Sales. Xtremepush's clients include Bank of Ireland, AIB and daa, Irish Times and Supermacs, as well as North American business for Groupe Dynamite, Piping Rock, Oregon State Lottery and Penn International Gaming.
Laura Farrell has been appointed as CEO with the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland (RPCI), the body which helps people manage the transition from work into retirement. She joins RPCI from Insurance Ireland, where she was chief membership engagement officer. She has also held senior roles in executive education, multimedia and corporate banking. She will work closely with the board of to deliver the RPCI’s strategic plan, working with support staff, course leaders and specialists to manage the delivery of retirement courses nationwide. Laura has experience working in not-for-profit and charity organisations and is a board member for IFSC Dublin Inner City Trust since 2017.
Martina Mahon has been appointed as audit and assurance partner in its financial services division of audit, accountancy, advisory and tax firm Mazars. She joined Mazars in 2018, before she worked with EY. Since joining Mazars, she has worked exclusively on several large insurance clients. She is an insurance specialist, with 20 years’ experience leading teams in the co-ordination of domestic, cross border and international audits and providing regulatory and accounting support to insurers. In her new role as Partner at Mazars, Martina will work alongside her colleagues to continue the development of the Mazars insurance portfolio and services, working on a range of life, non-life and reinsurance clients. While also developing new client relationships and providing mentoring to colleagues in developing their skills and technical expertise.
