Aoife McFadden is a graduate of UCD and DIT obtaining a BA (Hons) degree in History and Politics and a postgraduate diploma in law before qualifying as a solicitor in 2001. Aoife worked in private practice before joining Ibec’s Employment Law Services Team in 2017. She is a member of the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association Committee on employment law.
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Catriona is a solicitor in Ibec’s Employment Law Services Unit where she advises employers on contentious and non-contentious employment law matters. She worked as an industrial relations executive in Ibec’s Employer Relations division for several years before training as a solicitor in a leading corporate law firm. Catriona holds a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) (International) degree from UCD and a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from the University of Limerick and was awarded first class honours in both.
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Claire Hellen is the HR Strategy Specialist in Ibec. She has worked with Ibec for 15 years and during this time she has advised employers across a wide variety of industries on employee relations, employment law and HR best practice. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and an MBS in Human Resource Management from the Smurfit Business School. She also has a Diploma in Executive Coaching and will shortly receive her Diploma in Leadership, Creativity and Innovation from UCD.
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Des Ryan B.L. is a practising barrister in the Law Library, where he has been specialising exclusively in Employment Law since 2006, and is a CEDR-accredited Mediator. He is also called to the Bar of England and Wales (Lincoln’s Inn) and Northern Ireland. Des advises on all aspects of Employment Law and appears very regularly before the Workplace Relations Commission, the Labour Court, and the Superior Courts.
Des is an Associate Professor and Fellow at Trinity College Dublin where he lectures Employment Law and Tort Law. He is a founding member and current Committee Member of the Irish Employment Law Association. He has published widely and internationally in book, journal article and conference paper form on all areas of Employment Law and gives CPD briefings regularly to members of the solicitors’ and barristers’ profession, to the judiciary, and to Human Resources professionals.
Elaine Bowers is a Senior Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Executive in the Employer Relations Division of Ibec advising member companies on OHS queries.
Elaine is an Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) professional with a wide range of experience across different business sectors. She has a Masters in Applied Environmental Science (QUB), a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Health (DIT/TCD), a Higher Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety (UCD) and a Diploma in Employment Law (TUD).
Joanne joined Ibec last year from Facebook, where she led the International Employment law team for over 7 years. Prior to that Joanne worked with both Matheson and Mason Hayes & Curran Solicitors where she practiced in employment law and litigation since qualifying in 2006. She advises on all employment law matters, compensation and benefit matters and dispute resolution. Joanne is a committee member of the Employment Law Association of Ireland and is a volunteer with the Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC). Leading a team of five employment law solicitors, Joanne joins Ibec at a pivotal time where many emerging employment trends have accelerated the pace of change in employment practice and this brings with it inevitable changes to employment legislation.
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A native of Kilkenny, Kieran trained and qualified as a solicitor before moving into journalism. Having spent a number of years working as a reporter across the schedule in Newstalk, in 2017 he began presenting his own show every Sunday morning. From there, Kieran spent two years presenting the Breakfast show with Shane Coleman. Since September last year, Kieran has been presenting The Hard Shoulder every afternoon on Newstalk between 4pm and 7pm.
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“Being open to different approaches and ways of thinking is critical in employer relations as the pace of change in our workplaces accelerates driven by new technology, increasing diversity and globalisation.”
Director of Employer Relations (2015 to date). With Ibec since 2000 in senior positions including Head of Industrial Relations and Human Resources Traded Services, and Director of the North East Region. A graduate of Trinity College, prior to joining Ibec, Maeve McElwee worked with the World Bank in Washington DC.
Neil O'Brien is a hugely popular motivational speaker on the subjects of Mindset and Mental Fitness and in building and nurturing an organisational culture that is healthy. He understands the importance of paying attention to the interconnectedness of everything in an organisation and encourages people to think about all the possible impacts of their actions far beyond their own team or area of the business.
In his engaging and humorous talks Neil loves to take the audience out of their comfort zone and into their growth zone. He equips attendees with tools for a growth mindset and has built a stellar reputation for helping business leaders and their teams through transformation by teaching them to embrace the small steps that lead to big changes.
Neil set up Time To Fly in 1998 to bring his skills and passion for human potential and growth to organisations. Prior to that he worked in banking for 23 years - in sales and then L&D where he realised his innate ability to motivate and coach others to be their best.
Neil has built an award winning performance programme for the banking sector and continues to develop and deliver development programmes as well as speak at conferences throughout Europe. His clients include Accenture, Abbott Labs, Airtricity, AIB Bank and Group, Allianz Capital Partners, Bank Of Ireland, Google, Grant Thornton, IBM, 3M, Irish Life Corporate Business, Irish Life Investment Managers, KPMG, Microsoft, Pfizer, RBS, Sales Institute of Ireland, Institute of Bankers, Zurich Insurance and many others.
Neil is also one of Ireland’s top sport coaches and he has worked with professional and amateur golfers including Ryder Cup and Walker Cup players. He has coached at inter-county and club level with GAA teams and he is currently coaching some of Ireland’s elite athletes.
To summarise, Neil has helped psychiatrists with their stress management, psychologists with their personal development, directors with their sense of direction, sales people sell more, footballers score more and golfers score less!
Pauline O’Hare is a graduate of University College Dublin, where she obtained a Bachelor of Civil Laws degree and a Masters in Commercial Law, before qualifying as a solicitor in February 2006. Pauline previously worked in private practice, representing both employers and employees, before joining Ibec’s Employment Law Services Unit in February 2008, where she advises employers on both contentious and non-contentious matters.
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Sinead Wallace is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin where she obtained a law degree (LLB) and Leiden University in the Netherlands where she obtained a Masters of Law (LLM) in European Law. She qualified as a solicitor in 2014. Sinead previously worked in private practice for a number of years and joined Ibec’s Employment Law Services Unit in 2020.
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