Leadership

The National Library of Ireland’s complete collection of Catholic parish register microfilms is to be made available online for free later this year. On 8 July, the NLI will launch a dedicated website with over 390,000 digital images of the microfilm reels on which the parish registers are recorded. The NLI said it has been working for over three years to digitise the microfilms. According to the NLI, the parish register records are considered the single most important source of information on Irish family history before the 1901 Census.  Dating from the 1740s to the 1880s, they cover 1,091 parishes throughout the island of Ireland, and consist mainly of baptismal…

EY has this week announced a new partnership with BioInnovate Ireland, a medical device innovation training programme based in NUI Galway and modelled on the Stanford Biodesign programme.

Total Produce plc has appointed DAA CEO Kevin Toland to its board as a non-executive director with effect from 1 July 2015. Before taking on his current role in 2013, Toland held senior executive positions with a number of multinational companies, including most recently chief executive and president of Glanbia USA & Global Nutritionals, based in Chicago. “Kevin is a successful and experienced CEO with international experience,” said Total Produce chairman, Carl McCann.  “His direct knowledge of North America is very relevant as we continue to expand our business. We look forward to his contribution to the further success and development of Total Produce plc.” Grainne Rothery

The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI), which is part of Cork Institute of Technology, is the lead partner in the delivery of the Canary Islands’ first offshore survival training centre. A ceremony to mark the partnership will be held in Las Palmas tomorrow, 27 March, hosted by Conor Mowlds, head of the NMCI, in the presence of the Spanish Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism Jose Manual Soria and Ireland’s honorary consul in Gran Canaria Victor Aúz Castro. The NMCI and Co Cork company SEFtec are the lead consultants and manufacturers for the design, manufacture, development and operation of the Grupo Stier training centre in Las Palmas. Simon Coveney,…

With the Companies Act 2014 set to take effect on 1 June 2015, Ruairi Mulrean of LK Shields outlines the top 10 things every company director needs to know about it. After nearly a decade in the making, the Companies Act 2014 was signed into law at the end of last year.  The Act includes a number of radical reforms. It is the largest overhaul of company law the state has seen in half a century and is intended to make running a business in Ireland easier. All businesses need to understand the implications of the Act and be prepared for commencement, which is expected to take place on 1…

Details of this year’s European Insurance Forum (EIF2015) were announced at an event in Dublin, attended by Simon Harris, Minister of State with responsibility for International Financial Services. The two-day international EIF2015 will take place on 14 and 15 May in Croke Park, Dublin and is set to attract more than 200 attendees from around the world, comprising top executives from the political, regulatory and re/insurance sectors. The conference is being organised by the Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA), the industry representative body for international insurers, reinsurers and captive management companies based in Ireland. The event has a line-up of over 40 speakers, including some of the world’s…

Ex Paddy Power executive Shane Murphy has been appointed as marketing director with responsibility for EMEA at retargeting platform AdRoll in Dublin. Murphy spent over three and a half years in a variety of senior marketing roles at Paddy Power, most recently as its head of online acquisition, and has ten years’ experience in total. Marius Smyth, managing director EMEA at AdRoll, said: “With more than a decade of directly relevant experience during his time in Paddy Power and working in tech marketing in London, Shane is a natural leader with deep knowledge of and experience in marketing and technology across consumer and business markets in Europe.” Murphy sees this…

University College Cork (UCC) is celebrating the bicentenary of forefather of the information age George Boole, who was the college’s first professor of mathematics. Born in Lincoln in England in 1815, Boole was a largely self-taught mathematical genius who is recognised today as being the ‘forefather of the information age’. His creation of Boolean algebra and symbolic logic pioneered a new strand of mathematics, which was employed in the work of scientific and engineering giants such as Claude Shannon and Alan Turing, and many others, in the development of the computer. Boole’s legacy has come full circle back to UCC with the involvement of researchers in the School of Engineering…

BNY Mellon and comedian Brendan O’Carroll have been recognised for their philanthropic efforts at the seventh Philanthropic of the Year awards. Run by The Community Foundation for Ireland, the awards were established to recognise the extraordinary generosity and leadership of philanthropists in the country. BNY Mellon won Corporate Philanthropist of the Year for its work with Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, Wexford while O’Carroll was named National Philanthropist of the Year for his work with St Vincent de Paul. The special Brian Wilson Award is awarded to Jim and Adeline Callery for their contribution to cultural and educational projects in Co Roscommon, including the foundation of the Irish National Famine Museum.…

Ireland has the third highest proportion of innovative enterprises in the EU, new Eurostat figures reveal. According to Eurostat, 48.9pc of enterprises of 10 employees or more in the EU reported innovation activity between 2010 and 2012. In Ireland, the figure rises to 58.7pc, placing it third behind Germany (66.9pc) and Luxembourg (66.1pc). The proportion of innovative enterprises in the EU28 dropped in 2010-2012 compared with both 2006-2008 (51.5pc innovative enterprises) and the peak recorded in 2008-2010 (52.8pc). This pattern was observed in most member states, including Ireland (56.5pc in 2006-2008; 59.5pc in 2008-2010). Innovation activities refer to product and process innovation as well as organizational and marketing innovation. Between…