SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Michael Magner, President, Irish Hotels Federation
Michael Magner is the 40th President of the Irish Hotels Federation, succeeding Denyse Campbell. A native of Kileedy, Co. Limerick, Mr Magner is owner of the historic Cork's Vienna Woods Hotel. He has studied Hotel Management and holds a masters degree in Business in HRM from the University of Limerick. He began his career in hospitality aged 16 in Newcastle West, Limerick, going on to work at the Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel in Adare.
Michael has been an active branch member of the IHF since 2006 and has served as Chair of the Cork branch, a two-year term as National Vice President, and as a member of the National Council and Management Committee. He currently sits as Chair of Cobh Heritage Trust and a Director of the Board of Visit Cork.
Richard Curran, Journalist, Broadcaster and Author
Richard Curran is a journalist, broadcaster and author. He is the presenter of The Business radio show on RTE Radio One and a columnist with the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent. He has worked in business journalism through TV, radio, print and online for 29 years.
He is a former business editor of the Irish Independent and former deputy editor of The Sunday Business Post. He has co-written two books, one on Irish entrepreneurs and the other on the multi-billion euro collapse of Irish Nationwide Building Society. He has also made several television documentaries for RTE.
Conall Mac Coille, Chief Economist, Bank of Ireland
Conall is a well-known commentator on Irish economic and financial market developments and is also author of the quarterly MyHome report on the Irish housing market.
Gilles Babinet, Digital Champion of France & Multi-entrepreneur
Gilles Babinet is a French multi-entrepreneur. Since 1989, he has created 9 companies in various areas, such as mobile music (Musiwave), co-creation (Eyeka), Big Data marketing (CaptainDash). He is also vice-president of the National Digital Council as well as Digital Champion, representing France at the European Commission for digital matters.
Gilles is a well known digital visionary in France. He has been collaborating with the Think Tank Institut Montaigne on several research works on digital competitiveness, digital inclusion, big data, IoT… In 2011, he was appointed chairman of the National Digital Council by the President Nicolas Sarkozy. From 2012 until 2018, Gilles was the French Digital Champion, representing France at the European Commission for the digital topics. He is also a teacher at SciencesPo Paris, and returned to the National digital Council as Vice-Chair in June 2018.
He is a published author and a teacher at Sciences-Po about Public Policies & Digital and a member of many boards, including EY and EDF Foundation.
Alan Evans, Director of Hospitality & Guest Experience, Ryder Cup Europe
Alan joined the European Tour Group in 2016 after two years of freelance event management. Prior to this, he spent 12 years at Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales, in a variety of event management roles. He held the position of Head of Special Events, leading a team to plan and deliver a calendar of owned events, including the annual Wales Open golf tournament.
Notable achievements include event management at the 2014 NATO Summit, and HM The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration. Alan’s first Ryder Cup was in 2010 (Celtic Manor) and, so far, he has been involved in 5 further Ryder Cup events.
Peter Jordan, Head of Insights, TOPOSOPHY
He has been responsible for leading TOPOSOPHY’s projects with the European Travel Commission, and City Destinations Alliance, guiding national and city tourism organisations from across Europe on how to adapt to evolving trends and enhance their environmental and social impact. Peter’s most recent strategy and research projects include leading on the development of Edinburgh and Glasgow’s Tourism Strategies, developing the Destination Experience Development Planfor Dublin, Visit Belfast’s new visitor economy Strategy and Business Plan and an evaluation of Amsterdam’s visitor dispersal strategy. He takes a keen interest consumer insights andtrends, and in every project he strives to help destinations get a holistic picture of market and industry trends from both inside and outside the tourism sector.
Originally from the UK and fluent in French, Spanish and Dutch, Peter is currently based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive, Tourism Ireland
Alice Mansergh is Chief Executive at Tourism Ireland, with leadership responsibility for marketing the island of Ireland to overseas visitors. Collaborating with industry and government partners, Alice and the Tourism Ireland team are proud to support and grow the contribution overseas tourism makes to economies and communities across the island of Ireland.
Previously, Alice spent 19 years leading large scale commercial organisations at Google. As Managing Director, UK & Ireland Customer Solutions, she helped hundreds of thousands of businesses to digitise and succeed online. During a period based in London, Alice led Google’s own consumer marketing, growing iconic brands like Google Chrome, Maps and Gmail to market leading positions.
Alice is passionate about tourism and has not let a year of her life go by without holidaying around the island of Ireland. From 2018 to 2023, she served on the Board of Fáilte Ireland – the Irish national tourism development authority – with oversight of investments to strengthen tourism offerings and support industry through the Covid period. She is honoured to serve as Chief Executive with Tourism Ireland since September 2023.
Jenny De Saulles, Director of Sector Development, Failte Ireland
Jenny De Saulles was appointed as Director of Sector Development at Fáilte Ireland in 2019, a new role within the National Tourism Development Authority, focused on building industry resilience in the face of the challenges that the sector is facing.
A Cork native, Jenny has worked with Fáilte Ireland for over ten years, most recently as Head of Ireland’s Ancient East and has worked in both national and regional roles working on destination, product, industry and commercial development. Jenny also has extensive FMCG experience, having worked with Nestlé across the globe for over 15 years and in private consultancy.
Sean Kelly, Member of European Parliament
Seán Kelly has been an MEP for Ireland South since 2009. He is the leader of Fine Gael in the European Parliament and a member of the EPP Group. Kelly sits on the European Parliament's Committees on Industry, Research & Energy (ITRE), Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and on Foreign Affairs (AFET). He has led on important policy work, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), setting the 2030 target for Renewable Energy, finalising the EU’s €650 billion InvestEU programme, and securing a majority in favour of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
Kelly led negotiations for recasts of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) for the EPP Group. He has also been heavily involved in Climate Action, and has represented the Parliament at three UNFCCC Conferences. In 2024, Kelly was elected the Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Australia and New Zealand (DANZ), key strategic allies for the EU and Ireland in particular.
He has been a strong supporter of the hotel and hospitality industry, and the tourism sector more broadly, throughout his time as a Member of the European Parliament and has consistently called for measures that promote economic and social sustainability in the sector.
Billy Kelleher, Member of European Parliament
A former Minister for
Trade, Commerce and Industry, Billy was elected to the European Parliament in
2019, representing the people of Ireland South. Prior to his election, Billy
was his party’s national spokesperson on Health as well as Business, Enterprise
and Innovation and led his party’s work on amending the Constitution with
regard to abortion rights.
Billy was elected as
1st Vice President of the Renew Europe Group, and serves as a full member of
the ECON and FISC committees, and is a substitute member of the ENVI, SANT,
JURI and FEMM committees, He was also a member of the former COVI committee
looking at the lessons learned from the pandemic. In his work on the ECON and
FISC committees, Billy has taken a keen interest in the areas of reducing
regulation and red tape for SMEs as well as protecting consumers when dealing
with banks. Billy is also a member of the European Parliament's United States
Delegation.
Barry Cowen, Member of European Parliament
Barry Cowen is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Midlands North West constituency, elected in June 2024. He began his political career as a member of Offaly County Council, representing the Tullamore local electoral area from 1991 to 2011.
In 2011, he was elected to the 31st Dáil for Laois–Offaly, succeeding his brother Brian. Throughout his time in the Dáil, Barry Cowen held several key roles in Fianna Fáil, serving as spokesperson for Social Protection (2011–2012), Housing, Planning and Local Government (2012–2018), and Public Expenditure and Reform (2018–2020). He represented Fianna Fáil in government formation talks in both 2016 and 2020. In 2020, he served as Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine. Now, in the European Parliament, he serves on the Agriculture and International Trade Committees.
Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director, Cork Airport
An experienced aviation executive, Niall MacCarthy has worked in various roles across daa Group since 2000 in Dublin, Shannon, and Cork airports together with Chief Operating Officer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, Niall MacCarthy was appointed as Managing Director of Cork Airport in 2012 and in 2022, held the role of Vice President, Operations at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Niall is the current Chairperson of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), Ireland’s primary representative body for the tourism and hospitality industry, comprising of stakeholders from a large cross section of tourism interests and businesses from across the state. Prior to joining daa, he worked at Dunnes Stores Head Office in Dublin for seven years. Previously, Niall also served two terms as Chair of Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe) Regional Airports Forum in Brussels - the voice of Europe’s 400 regional airports.
Mary Considine, CEO, Shannon Airport
Mary is the Chief Executive Officer of The Shannon Airport Group. In her career, Mary has held a number of senior roles, including, Airport Director, Deputy CEO and CFO/Company Secretary of the Group. Mary was instrumental in the establishment of Shannon Group in 2014. She has extensive experience in roles such as aviation, commercial development and finance. Mary leads the Group in maximising the potential of its airport and surrounding lands and property while embedding sustainability across the business, all of which are pivotal in driving economic advancement.
Mary is a Board Member of Ibec & President of the Ibec Midwest Regional Committee. She is a member of the Board of Trustees and the Governing Authority of Mary Immaculate College. She also currently serves on the Board of Limerick Chamber of Commerce, was a past President of Shannon Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce.
Sarah Ryan, Director of Communications, daa
Sarah Ryan is Director of Communications at daa, the operator of Dublin and Cork airports. daa is also active in international airport retailing through its subsidiary ARI, and international aviation consultancy with daa International.
She joined daa in February 2024 having returned home to Ireland following an extensive international communications career. Prior roles include EMEA Director of Corporate Communications for Netflix based in Amsterdam, and Head of External Communications, Europe, for Vodafone Group based in London. Sarah also has significant experience as a communications consultant in Ireland and the UK, and worked for two public sector bodies in New Zealand.
In February 2023, Sarah was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland, where she advocates for the professional development and recognition of the PR industry. In August 2023, Sarah graduated with distinction from the University of Cambridge with a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Originally from Tipperary, Sarah lives in North Dublin and enjoys learning to sail in Dublin Bay with Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club.
Eoghan Corry, Editor, Travel Extra
Previously (in ancient times) he was literary editor of the Irish Press, sports editor of the Sunday Tribune and business editor of Daily Ireland.
Norah Patten
Dr. Norah Patten has been on a mission since the age of 11 to become Ireland’s first person in space. Recently that dream became a reality Virgin Galactic proudly announced that she had been chosen as one of three astronauts to take part in a new research flight contract with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS). This mission, anticipated to take place within the first year of commercial service aboard the new Delta spaceships, marks our second research collaboration with IIAS. She is passionate about using her experience to encourage both young and old to shoot for the stars.
Norah grew up in the west of Ireland, but a family trip to NASA in Cleveland aged 11 became the start of a lifelong dream to travel to space. Today she is a faculty member at the International Space University, and in 2017 became Ireland’s first citizen scientist-astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere). Norah has participated in several citizen science campaigns including microgravity research flight, spacesuit testing and evaluation, high-g flights and spacecraft egress. In 2019, she released her children’s book Shooting for the Stars (O’Brien Press), which won An Post Children’s Book of the Year (senior category).
Through a partnership with U.S. company NanoRacks, the leading provider of commercial access to space, Norah initiated and managed ‘The Only Way is Up’ project, which launched Ireland’s first student experiment to the International Space Station in 2014. She also participated in the International Space University Space Studies Program in 2010, holds a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Limerick and has industrial experience from The Boeing Company and Bells Labs Alcatel Lucent.