Business movers: People starting new jobs in Ireland

New appointees with Lakeland Dairies, Grafter, County Kildare Chamber, CIE Tours, DLA Piper and Siro

New roles: (top row) Liz Shouldice, Brian Loughney, Sinéad Ronan; (bottom row) Stephen Cotter, Kathi Ó Riain, Barry McWeeney.

Here is a selection of people starting new roles with Lakeland Dairies, Grafter, County Kildare Chamber, CIE Tours, DLA Piper and Siro.

Liz Shouldice has been appointed as chief people officer (head of HR) with Lakeland Dairies, the cross-border dairy co-op. She replaces Tadhg O’Halloran, who is to retire at the end of 2024 after 11 years in the role. Liz brings 20 years’ experience in HR, most recently as chief people officer with the National Lottery (ROI). She has led change management in technology, services, utilities and aviation. From a dairy farm in Co Tipperary, she holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from UL, an Exec MBA from Smurfit Business School (UCD) and qualifications from IMI, London Business School and Ibec. She has represented Ireland in kayaking.

Brian Loughney has been appointed as marketing manager with Grafter, the flexible workspace provider. He will oversee marketing strategy for Grafter’s portfolio of locations in Ireland and the UK. He will also develop and manage events and all aspects of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) at Grafter. He brings more than a decade of marketing experience with tech, insurance, food and beverage, consultancy and education companies in Ireland and Europe. With the Institute of Education, he oversaw digital strategies and marketing campaigns, and developed its virtual learning platform. Brian studied at the Dublin IT (now TU Dublin) and holds a BSc in Marketing.

Sinéad Ronan has been appointed as CEO with County Kildare Chamber, succeeding Allan Shine. Formerly Kildare Chamber’s head of public affairs and operations, Sinéad will prioritise members’ concerns in her new role, notably housing availability, which is the top concern for businesses in terms of competitiveness within Kildare, closely followed by skills and labour availability. Liz will also emphasise the need for strategic infrastructure development in Kildare to attract businesses and nurture talent in the Mid-East region. The latest Chamber sentiment report found that 73% of businesses believed infrastructure development within Kildare was lagging and that more urgently needed to be done.

Stephen Cotter has been appointed as managing director of CIE Tours, the bus tour company. An Irish tourism veteran, Stephen has worked with CIE Tours for the past 20 years in lead roles in finance and operations, most recently as chief operations officer. During 2023, some 35,000 people travelled with CIE Tours, the largest carrier of visitors from the US to Ireland. In recent years, CIE Tours has expanded its business to destinations including Iceland and Italy. “The expansion of our tours in Ireland and to other countries will be a key focus for me as we look to grow the company,” said Stephen.

Kathi Ó Riain has been appointed as a partner in the real estate practice of law firm DLA Piper. She joins from Addleshaw Goddard Ireland, where she was a partner and head of property and construction. Kathi has 20 years’ experience advising clients on real estate sector projects and transactions across all major real asset classes, including logistics, PRS, retail, offices, hotels and leisure. She also brings expertise in commercial leasing. Kathi will join DLA Piper’s team of 115, including 18 partners and 17 legal directors in Ireland. She will use help clients to complete transactions and projects with maximum oversight and compliance. 

Barry McWeeney has been appointed as head of new developments with fibre network operator Siro. He will lead the rollout of Siro’s full fibre broadband network to new homes and apartments across the country. Barry has over 15 years' experience working in telecoms, including as a project manager with KTL, overseeing various network upgrade projects for major telecom providers, and with Vodafone/Netshare managing its upgrade to 4G capability, responsible for site design, installation, and quality assurance. Barry joined SIRO in 2016, and was most recently team lead within its technology division. He holds a BEng in Civil Engineering from Atlantic Technological University Sligo