Teneo scandal: Who is Declan Kelly?

One of Ireland's top business executives has resigned 

Declan Kelly built Teneo into one of the world’s largest communications and corporate advisory firms counting organisations like FIFA and Coca-Cola amongst their clients.

Born in Portroe, Co Tipperary in 1968, Declan Kelly graduated from NUI Galway and began his career working as a journalist in local media including publications like the Nenagh Guardian and Tipperary Star before becoming a business reporter in the early 90s for the Cork Examiner covering industrial relations.

Former US President Bill Clinton at the Worldwide Ireland Funds dinner at Ballymaloe House in Cork in 2012 with then Funds President Kieran McLoughlin and chief executive and Declan Kelly. Picture Dan Linehan

He subsequently moved into public relations holding a number of senior management positions with different firms before setting up his own business in 1999 Gallagher and Kelly Public Relations. He subsequently sold the company to Financial Dynamics (FD) one of the world’s top financial consultancy and communications firms. He was part of a senior team at FD when it was sold to FTI Consulting in 2006.

At FTI, Kelly served as Executive Vice President providing advice and support to executives in some of the world’s top firms.

In 2007 he began advising Hilary Clinton who was running for the US presidency. In 2009, as the US Secretary of State, she appointed Kelly as Economic Envoy To The North for a two-year term where he worked to bring employment to Northern Ireland.

In 2008 he became the youngest-ever recipient of the American Irish Historical Society’s prestigious Gold Medal, given to a person deemed to have made a unique contribution to Irish American society.

Teneo came on board as Tipperary GAA’s main sponsor in 2018 with Kelly establishing and heading up a commercial board to support Tipperary GAA. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

In 2011 he founded Teneo, headquartered in New York, which he has built over the past decade into one of the world’s largest communications and corporate advisory firms counting organisations like FIFA and Coca-Cola amongst their clients.

Retaining strong links with his home county Teneo came on board as Tipperary GAA’s main sponsor in 2018 with Kelly establishing and heading up a commercial board to support Tipperary GAA.

Kelly has sat on the boards of a number of philanthropic organisations including the Clinton Foundation, the US Foundation Board at NUIG, the American Ireland Fund, GOAL USA and education organisation Global Citizen.

It was at an event organised by Global Citizen that people alleged Kelly was inebriated and behaved inappropriately. When the allegations emerged he resigned from Global Citizen immediately but Teneo said he would continue at Chief Executive and Chair. However, yesterday the company announced that Kelly would step down immediately.