President's message
Taoiseach, Distinguished Guests, fellow Ibec members, you are all very welcome.
It is my great privilege to stand before you this evening as the incoming President of Ibec and I do so with deep gratitude and tremendous pride
Please join me in congratulating Danny and all the team at Ibec for organising this evening’s event.
This will be my 15th Ibec President’s Dinner, and over the years this gathering has been a source of inspiration, purpose and action for me and I know that it is for many others.
It is a powerful expression of Irish business - bringing together enterprise leaders, policy makers and partners from across society and across the globe to celebrate what we have achieved, solve for the challenges ahead and action our shared ambition for Ireland’s future. Thank you, Danny and the entire Ibec team for your steadfast and values-based leadership.
To begin, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to our outgoing President, Colin Hunt. Colin, your tenure has been defined by a relentless demand for what you so aptly called 'Generational Solutions
Presidents Speech Maureen Walsh 2026 pdf | 114.9 kbMaureen Walsh - Biography
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Maureen Walsh is the President of Ibec and has served as the Managing Director of DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland (a subsidiary of DeCare Dental LLC) since 2004. Having initially established DeCare’s Irish operations as a greenfield start-up in 1999, she successfully scaled the organisation into a fully licensed Irish insurance company. Today, it stands as Ireland’s leading provider of dedicated dental, vision, and corporate wellbeing benefits. She was appointed to the DeCare Board of Directors in 2013.
Within Ibec, she has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2022 and the National Council since 2016. She currently chairs the Ibec Digital and AI Committee, where she works to shape national and EU regulatory frameworks regarding technology, data strategy, and artificial intelligence. She has also served two terms as Ibec West Regional President, advocating for regional infrastructure and enterprise development. Beyond Ibec, she serves on the Evaluations and Approvals Committee of the Mayo Local Enterprise Board and previously sat on the Governing Body of GMIT, where she played a pivotal role in the formation of the Atlantic Technological University (ATU).
A Certified Insurance Practitioner, she holds an MBA from the National University of Ireland, Galway and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. She is a member of the Institute of Directors, Insurance Ireland and the Irish Insurance Institute. Alongside her corporate leadership, she is deeply committed to community and regional development, having previously served as Chairperson of the Mayo Cancer Association.
In Conversation with Incoming Ibec President Maureen Walsh
Alan Sherlock, External Affairs Manager at Ibec, speaks with incoming Ibec President, Maureen Walsh, Managing Director of DeCare Dental Ireland.
