Bobby Kerr

Chairman, Insomnia Coffee Company and RTE Dragon

Bobby Kerr is an Irish entrepreneur and businessman. He presents ‘Down to Business’ a Sunday Business Breakfast show on Newstalk and is a ‘Dragon’ on RTE’s Dragons’ Den. He is the Chairman of Insomnia Coffee and one of the owners of Bang Restaurant. He has a variety of business interests in food & hospitality, technology, manufacturing and retail. Bobby is also a popular public speaker and business mentor.

Bobby lives by the sea in Sandycove, just outside Dublin City, with his wife Mary and their four daughters. He is actively involved in raising money for a number of Charities, including The Special Olympics and Fairtrade. Also Bobby is actively involved in raising money for Blackrock Hospice.  He has raised over €75K for the hospice in the last three years.  Bobby has been a keen yachtsman for the last 25 years and races competitively in Dun Laoghaire.

More recently Bobby raised in excess of €40,000 working with Habitat for Humanity. In April 2011 he lead a team of 10 business people on a house building expedition in Zambia alongside local builders.

Jonathon Rutherford

Jonathan is Head of Marketing in Vodafone Ireland’s Enterprise Business Unit. Having recently relocated to Ireland, In Vodafone, Jonathan has been responsible for forming a number of new partnerships and new lines of business within the business and public sector markets. Jonathan has a background in sales, marketing and product management.

Prior to joining Vodafone, Jonathan worked in the startup of a number of fixed and mobile operators and throughout Europe. Jonathan holds Masters degrees in Telecoms and Management and is married with two young sons. In his spare time he is a keen footballer and enjoys spending time  with  his family outdoors.

Barry Murphy

 Sales Manager, Sage Ireland

Barry Murphy is the Sales Manager for Sage Ireland. Barry joined Sage in August 2011 and is primarily responsible for increasing Sage’s market share in the small to medium sized business sectors through the direct sales team and channel partners. Barry has over 13 years’ of global experience in sales & sales management and has also previously run his own sales-outsourcing business – Global Communications – with offices in East London, South Africa and Dublin, Ireland. From 2002 until 2007 Barry also previously held senior positions with NSP International and VIVA Estates in southern Spain.

Barry recently married his wife Louise and they live in Blackrock, Co Dublin.

Adrienne Murray

Adrienne Murray, CEO, Microfinance Ireland.

Microfinance Ireland is a Department of Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation initiative and is part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs.  Its specific focus is on newly established and growing micro enterprises with less than 10 staff and under E2m turnover across all industry sectors who have difficulty in accessing traditional bank funding for their businesses.  Microfinance Ireland can provide loans to sole traders, partnerships and micro businesses from E2,000 up to E25,000.  Microfinance Ireland works in partnership with the County and City Enterprise Boards and other representative business organisations who are involved with supporting and training of businesses with their business plans and strategies.

Adrienne has recently joined Microfinance Ireland following a lengthy career with AIB Bank.  Her experience spans HR, Marketing, Strategic Development, Branch Banking and  Business Banking.  In recent years, Adrienne has worked  closely with Enterprise Ireland in relation to  supporting Emerging Sector businesses from innovative and traditional sectors in relation to job sustainment, job creation and export development.  Adrienne is a Graduate of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and holds a Cert. Dip. Accounting and Finance ACCA.

Stephen Dillon

 Managing Director of The Corkage Group & Founder of Startups.ie

The Corkage group comprises of a chain of off licences under the ‘Next Door’ brand and a group of  e-commerce websites primarily operating in the drinks Industry. Thebeerclub.ie is Ireland’s leading online supplier of world and craft beer, Simplygifts.ie supplys premium gifts and hampers and Corkage.ie is Ireland’s leading online wedding wine website, Thewineclub.ie will launch later this year.
Stephen holds a BBS in Business Studies from Dublin City University and a WSET Diploma in Wines & Spirits. He previously worked with Bord Bia in Paris, Dunnes Stores & Aldi.

Stephen founded Startups.ie in 2008 to be an independent voice promoting entrepreneurship in Ireland. The aim of Startups.ie is to provide Inspiration and information to anyone thinking of starting their own business.  A vibrant and confident entrepreneurial community will be vital to regaining economic growth in Ireland over the coming years.

Stephen lives in Meath and is married to Sally Anne, their first child Isabella was born last year.

Fionnbarra Ó Brolcháin

Múineann Fionnbarra Ó Brolcháin sa Scoil Ghnó Smurfit, Ollscoil na hÉireann, Baile Átha Cliath (UCD).  Is iar ollamh airgeadais é in Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath (DCU), áit ar bhunaigh sé an lárionad Gaeilge, Fiontar.  Bhí sé ina chathaoirleach ar zamano, gnólacht nua-thionscanta bunaithe ag iar scoláirí Fiontar atá anois liostaithe ar Stocmhalartáin Bhaile Átha Cliath agus Londain.  Bhí sé mar ollamh in Ollscoil na hÉireann, Má Nuad agus ollamh ar cuairt in Ollscoil Michigan, Ollscoil Fordham agus Scoil Eacnamaíochta Helsinki.  Is comhudár (le James J. Kennelly) an leabhair, Capitalising on Culture, Competing on Difference [Blackhall Publishing, 2008], comheagarthóir (le Joe Mulholland) an leabhair Ireland’s Economic Crisis-Time to Act, bunaithe ar léachtaí Scoil Shamhraidh Mhic a Ghoill 2009 agus údar an mhonagraif Aigne Ghaelach, Meon Nualaíoch [Coiscéim, 2011].  Tá céim innealtóireacht leictreach aige ó Choláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh (UCC) agus PhD aige ó Scoil Ghnó Stern, Ollscoil Nua Eabhrach (NYU).

Finbarr Bradley

Finbarr Bradley teaches at the UCDSmurfitGraduateBusinessSchool.  He was a professor of finance at Dublin City University (DCU) where he set up the Irish-medium centre, Fiontar. He is a former chairman of zamano, a high tech start-up founded by former Fiontar students, now publicly listed.  He was a professor at the National University of Ireland Maynooth and a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, Fordham University and the Helsinki School of Economics.  He co-authored (with James Kennelly) the book, Capitalising on Culture, Competing on Difference [Blackhall Publishing, 2008], co-edited with Joe Mulholland a book of essays on Ireland’s economic crisis from the 2009 MacGill Summer School and authored the monograph Meol Gaelach, Aigne Nuálaíoch [Coiscéim, 2011].  He has an electrical engineering degree from University College Cork (UCC) and a PhD from the Stern School of Business, New York University (NYU).

Feilim O’Caoimh

Partner McDowell Purcell Lawyers

Feilim heads the Commercial Law Unit at McDowell Purcell and has over 13 years’ experience as a commercial lawyer. He and his team provide specialist advice to McDowell Purcell’s corporate clients including both Irish and international companies. Feilim’s team advises clients on a wide range of legal matters including private equity fundraising, joint ventures, commercial lending transactions, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, IT law and commercial contracts.  For many years Feilim has advised start up businesses on incorporation, legal structure, fundraisings and matched funding investments with Enterprise Ireland.  Most recently he advised a renewable energy development company on a €20m funding round. As well as being a regular speaker at various conferences and seminars, Feilim lectures on the Law Society Diploma in Commercial Contracts. He contributes articles on commercial topics to various publications, including Business & Finance Magazine and Business Plus magazine. In 2010 Chambers described him as “able to make technically complex matters simple and …..refreshingly and thoroughly commercial in his approach”. In 2011, he was recommended in Chambers as “a well-known practitioner…particularly noted for his project finance work”. Feilim has won the ILO (International Law Office) Client Choice Award for general corporate in Ireland in both 2011 and 2012.

Neil Squires

Managing Partner – Squires & Co.

Neil is a chartered accountant and fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland having qualified with a medium sized practice in 1997. Before co-founding Squires & Co. in 2002, Neil held financial positions in Irish subsidiaries of publicly quoted Multinational companies in both the Pharmaceutical and IT industries. In the latter role he gained significant experience in establishment of a multinational subsidiary in Ireland.

Specialising in the areas of audit and business advisory services, he has extensive experience in statutory audit, financial and management reporting, taxation and corporate governance. He works with branches of overseas and multi-national companies and small to medium owner-managed businesses in industries such as not-for-profit, healthcare, technology and retail.

Neil has over 15 years of experience in the provision of business advisory and assurance services in the technology sector. He works closely with the IDA and the firms NIS Global network colleagues to assist foreign entities establish themselves in Ireland.

Eileen Bentley

Entrepreneurship & Small Business Manager at Bord Bia. Bord Bia’s objective is to develop markets for Irish suppliers and to bring the taste of Irish food to more tables world-wide. Eileen’s role involves working with emerging food businesses as part of the Food Works programme and with established food companies on both the domestic and export markets.

Prior to joining Bord Bia, Eileen spent three years in Switzerland where she worked for Nespresso as their International Communications Manager for the business to business market. Her previous role was in London with UK retailer Sainsbury’s where she worked for four years as part of the Marketing & Advertising team.

Eileen holds a BCL from University College Dublin and is married with a baby son.

Niall Harbison

Niall is an entrepreneur who founded Simply Zesty, a global digital agency,  in 2009 and sold it 3 years later to UTV. The company started out in his spare bedroom with just €10,000 in start-up capital. The company helps brands such as Vodafone, Samsung and Sony with their social media strategies developing creative campaigns on platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Niall now works on growing the company across Europe, Asia and the USA working with large international brands on their digital and social media strategies. Simply Zesty recently merged with Tibus Digital  to create one of Ireland and the UK’s largest digital media agency with 50 people spread between Dublin, Belfast and London.

Niall is also an angel investor backing small Irish companies to help them create jobs and achieve the same success as Simply Zesty. His personal websites are www.lovintrends.com  and www.lovindublin.com where he blogs his forthright reviews of restaurants in Dublin and beyond. When not working – he’s thinking about it while walking his dogs Snoop and Buster.