Here is a selection of people starting new roles with Gamma, Unique Media, ASAI, ActionAid Ireland, Dairygold, and Sky Ireland.
Michael Gaughan has been appointed as head of strategic growth, risk solutions, with Gamma, the cloud-hosted location intelligence systems and services company. He will lead the international expansion of Gamma’s insurance offering, including Perilfinder, the company’s leading risk assessment, exposure management, and reporting solution. Michael spent the past 35 years in a variety of roles spanning underwriting, marketing, business development, corporate strategy, and general management. He brings international experience in the insurance sector in Ireland, the UK, and the US will be invaluable. In addition to his role at Gamma, Michael is a director at Insurecore and chair of the board of trustees at Headway Sussex. Established in Dublin in 1993, Gamma also has offices in Manchester, UK, and Bilbao, Spain.
Breda Brown, co-founder and communications director of communications firm Unique Media, has been appointed as chair of The Irish Writers Centre, Ireland’s resource organisation for writers. She will engage in her new IWC voluntary position in conjunction with her professional role. With Unique Media, Breda has advised An Post Irish Book Awards on strategic planning, PR, digital, and event management for the past 15 years. She also presents and produces the Inside Books podcast, in which she interviews Irish and international authors and she reviews crime novels for print media. She holds an MA in Journalism and BA in Communication Studies, both from DCU. Also joining the IWC board are Áine Denn, Keelin Kissane, Jess Majekodunmi and Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan.
Fergus O’Toole has been appointed to the complaints committee of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), which assesses complaints submitted by the public. The committee is made up of experts from advertising, media, education, consumer, and marketing. Currently, the Deputy Director in the Consumer Protection Division of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), Fergus brings 15 years of regulatory experience, including working for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). He is a graduate of both TCD and UCD. Financed by the advertising industry, the ASAI covers commercial marketing communications and sales promotions in all media in Ireland including digital online banners, websites, and social platforms, print, outdoor, radio, TV, leaflets/brochures, and direct marketing.
Karol Balfe has been appointed as CEO of aid organisation ActionAid Ireland. She will oversee ActionAid’s work on women and children’s human rights. A native of Carlow, Karol has worked for over 18 years in human rights, development and peacebuilding and has published on a range of human rights and development issues. Karol worked with Christian Aid for nine years as global head of peacebuilding, head of programmes and as a strategic adviser. She worked on a range of human rights issues with Amnesty International Ireland and with Oxfam. She has worked with a range of civil society partners and communities in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. She holds a Masters in Globalisation from DCU.
Pat Gaynor has joined the board of Dairygold as an independent non-executive director. A former managing director at Bank of Ireland (BoI) Corporate Banking, he headed up its Irish and UK lending businesses; he retired from BoI in November 2020. Pat will replace Dan Flinter, former CEO of Enterprise Ireland, who has served his maximum permitted term on the board. Pat will take up his Dairygold role in January 2022 and will serve with independent business advisor Annette Flynn as one of two non-exec board directors. Dairygold chair, John O’Gorman, thanked Dan Flinter for his “sterling service” over ten years, and highlighted Pat Gaynor’s role with BoI in financing the agri and dairy industry, both domestically and internationally.
Orlaith Ryan has been promoted to chief commercial officer with Sky Ireland. She joined the broadcaster in 2016 as customer director, managing maintenance and ongoing growth of Sky’s customer base in Ireland. She previously held customer and marketing roles in Vodafone and Aviva, and most recently was managing director of FTI Consulting, where she led the company’s consumer practice and specialised in delivering change and customer projects across the telco, insurance, and financial sectors. In her new role, Orlaith will have overall commercial responsibility in Ireland for Sky TV, Sky Broadband, Sky Sports, Sports Extra, Sky Cinema, and TV products. She will also oversee the marketing, CVM, wholesale and product delivery, customer experience, customer insights, trading performance, and homes teams.
