Some of Ireland’s top women executives have been honoured at the Women’s Executive Network’s (WXN) Leadership Summit and Awards in Dublin.
Twenty-five women were named as Ireland’s most powerful in categories ranging from corporate executives in the biggest firms in the country and entrepreneurs, to public sector leaders and top figures in arts and culture.
Among those honoured as Ireland’s most powerful corporate executives were Microsoft Ireland’s managing director Cathriona Hallahan, Tesco Ireland’s legal affairs director Sarah Gallagher, and AIB’s group HR director Orla Hunt. Musgrave Group’s Sharon Buckley, Boston Scientific’s Rosaleen Burke, Noonan’s Maeve Coffey and Dell’s Aisling Keegan joined Ann Keenan from DCC, Google’s Jennifer Kelly and Oracle’s Maria Smith on the top 10 list.
Three women were also inducted into Hall of Fame, with CPL Resources’ chief executive Anne Heraty, CRH finance director Maeve Carton and Brid Horan, deputy chief executive with ESB, added to the list.
“In Europe, the most senior positions are still predominantly held by men, whether in business, politics or other fields. In March this year, the European Commission noted that women only account for an average of 18 per cent of the members of boards of directors in the largest publicly-listed companies and 3 per cent of the CEOs. They recognise that, despite a concerted effort in many companies, progress is too slow to deliver the Commission’s target of 40 per cent by 2020” said WXN Founder Pamela Jeffery.
“Women network differently to men, and WXN provides them an opportunity to create new networks, while educating themselves professionally,”
Around 600 people attended the event in Dublin, which included talks on change management, work-life balance and leadership in the 21st century.
The full list of winners:
HSBC Corporate Executives Award
Sharon Buckley, Group Commercial and Supply Chain Director, Musgrave Group
Rosaleen Burke, Vice President, Quality Assurance, Supply Chain and International, Boston Scientific
Maeve Coffey, Head of HR, Noonan
Sarah Gallagher, Legal Affairs Director, Tesco Ireland
Cathriona Hallahan, Managing Director, Microsoft Ireland
Orla Hunt, Group HR Director, AIB
Aisling Keegan, Executive Director and General Manager, Private Large Commercial Business, Dell UK
Ann Keenan, Head of Group Human Resources, DCC Plc
Jennifer Kelly, Global Director, Real Estate and Facilities, Google
Maria Smith, Vice President & Assistant Corporate Controller, Oracle Corporation
Entrepreneurs Award
Judy Byrne, HR Director & Co-Founder, Crewlink Ireland
Ramona Nicholas, Joint Managing Director & Co-Founder, Cara Group
Marian O’Gorman, CEO, Kilkenny Group
Public Sector Leaders Award
Catherine Day, Secretary-General, European Commission
Ann Doherty, CEO, UL Hospitals
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, European Commission
Laverne McGuinness, Chief Operations Officer & Deputy Director General, HSE
Trailblazers Award
Anna May McHugh, Managing Director, National Ploughing Association
Emily O’Reilly, European Ombudsman
Orla O’Sullivan, Musician
Samantha Power, United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Most Reverend Pat Storey, Bishop of Meath and Kildare, Church of Ireland
Arts & Culture
Kitty Holland, Journalist, The Irish Times
Orla Kiely, Founder, Kiely Rowan Plc
Dearbhla Walsh, Film & Television Director
Hall of Fame
Maeve Carton, Finance Director, CRH
Anne Heraty, Chief Executive, Cpl Resources Plc
Brid Horan, Deputy Chief Executive, ESB
