• About BITCI
• The Board
  
• What We Do
• People
• Vision and Values

Our Board is business-led and includes business leaders committed to community involvement and corporate responsibility and from a range of sectors, along with representation from business groups IBEC and the Chambers Ireland.

Board Members

	Name and Company
	Kieran McGowan Chairperson Kieran McGowan became Chairperson of Business in the Community Ireland in 2004. He retired as Chief Executive of IDA Ireland in December 1998. He is Chairman of CRH plc and a director of Elan Corporation plc and United Drug plc. He retired in 2009 as Chairman of the Governing Authority of University College Dublin and during 2008 as a Director of Enterprise Ireland Limited and Irish Life & Permanent plc. Other achievements include his Presidency of the Irish Management Institute, being a founder member of InterTrade Ireland and a board member of the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games.
	Padraig McManus Vice chair Padraig McManus was appointed Chief Executive and member of the board of ESB in July 2002. He joined ESB in 1973 and spent 15 years on the company's international businesses, later becoming managing director of ESB International and ESB commercial director. He is a board member of the Irish Management Institute and a member of the Conference Board. Padraig McManus is also Chairman of the Steering Committee for BITCI's Ready for Work programme.
	Harry Byrne Harry Byrne - Retired Director of Guinness Ireland Ltd. He was employed within the Guinness Ireland Group for most of his career, appointed to the Board in 1977 as F&A Director and became Assistant MD in 1992. Earlier appointments included a period as MD of a Diversified Group of Subsidiaries. He retired in 1996 but has continued as Chairman of the Guinness Ireland Pension Scheme Trustees. He is currently one of Ireland's representatives on the EU Economic and Social Committee. He is also Chairman of the Iveagh Trust, a Council Member of the Eye and Ear Hospital and a Director of the Foundation for Investing in Communities. He was Chairman of Lifetime Assurance Ltd until his retirement in 2001. He has been a Council Member of CIMA since 1992 and was President for 2002/2003.
	Patricia Callan Small Firms Association Patricia Callan is the Director of the Small Firms Association. The SFA is Ireland's largest small firm representative organisation, with over 8,000 member companies. Patricia is a business pillar representative in the national social partnership negotiations and is a member of the National Economic & Social Forum (NESF), the Credit Supply Clearing Group, the Management Development Council, the High Level Group on Business Regulation, and the BusinessEurope Entrepreneurship & SME Committee, amongst others. Patricia holds a Masters in International Studies from the University of Limerick, a BA (mod.) in Economics from Trinity College Dublin, and a Diploma in Employment Law from the National College of Ireland (NCI).
	Steve Costello Steve was appointed Chairman of the Consumer Council in January 2003. He is Chairman of the ROI Government's National Consumer Agency and also Chair of the Board of Stranmillis University College. Steve chaired the Education Minister's Advisory Group on the post primary review. He was a former Chair of the NI Business Education Partnership and the NI Blood Transfusion Service. He was also an Executive and Council member of Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Steve's career began in 1972 with Marks & Spencer, becoming Chief Executive for Ireland and he retired in 2001. Steve received an MBE in 1997 for services to education and training in NI. He received the Paul Harris Rotary Worldwide Fellowship Medal in the same year. Steve Costello is also Chairman of the Steering Committee for BITCI's EPIC programme.
	Brian Geoghegan Brian Geoghegan is Director, Leaseplan Ireland and MRPA Kinman. He is a member of the National Economic & Social Council and sits on the Advisory Council of the Policy Institute of Trinity College, Dublin. Brian is former Director of Economic Affairs at IBEC and former Chairman of FAS, the State employment agency. He was a central figure in the negotiation of successive National Partnership agreements between the Government and the Social Partners and he was one of the architects of the policy changes which were critical to Ireland's recent economic transformation.
	Patrick Lynch Patrick Lynch, Chairman of Dublin City Enterprise Board is a former CEO of Shell Ireland and former Chairman of the state training agency FAS. He is also Chairman of the Steering Committee for BITCI's Linkage programme.
	Bryan Mohally Bryan Mohally is currently Managing Director of Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Inc USA, and is also a board member of several other J&J affiliates in Ireland. He is a Past President of PharmaChemical Ireland, the representative body within IBEC for the pharmaceutical and chemical sector, and he also serves on the Board of Directors of the Cork Cancer Research Centre, a cancer research partnership between University and the Cork Hospitals.
	Pauric O'Grady Pauric O'Grady recently retired from Johnson & Johnson, the world's leading producer of health care products, after a career spanning almost 35 years. Pauric developed his career through a succession of senior marketing and general management roles in J&J affiliate companies with responsibility for the Irish, UK, Scandinavian and Middle East markets. He retired from the position of MD of Johnson & Johnson Medical - Ireland, having completed 15 years in that role. He is actively involved as a board member with a number of community projects and initiatives including Operation Smile Ireland and The Johnson & Johnson European CSR Committee. He is currently Chairman of the Steering Committee for BITCI's Schools' Business Partnership initiative.
	Jim OHara Jim OHara is vice president, Technology Manufacturing Group, Intel Corporation and Intel Ireland general manager. Jim took over the role of Intel Ireland general manager in April 2002 and is responsible for Intel's manufacturing operations in Ireland and for the site's strategic direction, management leadership and development, and government and community relations. OHara is a member of both the management and governing boards for ICT Ireland. In 2005 he joined the board of the Smurfit Business School at UCD, and the Institute Board of CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices) at Trinity College Dublin. In 2007, Jim was appointed as a member of the Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) and in July 2008 he joined the board of Business in the Community Ireland. In May 2006, Jim was conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the National University of Ireland.
	Aileen O'Toole Aileen O'Toole is the Managing Director of AMAS and acts as a strategic adviser to private and public organisations on their online channels. The founder of two businesses, she has been a senior media executive in Ireland for more than 20 years. She is a co-founder of The Sunday Business Post newspaper. Since 2001, when she founded AMAS, she has led a series of challenging projects for private and public sector clients. Aileen was a shareholder in The Sunday Business Post until 1997 and was a Director and Deputy Editor of the newspaper. Previously, she was Editor of Business & Finance magazine and was the first woman to edit a national business title in Ireland. Aileen O'Toole is a member of several policy and not-for-profit boards. She is a Director of Chambers Ireland and ASH Ireland. In 2004, she was appointed by Tánaiste Mary Harney as a member of the Consumer Strategy Group, which reported to government on consumer issues.
	Maurice Pratt Maurice Pratt is the former Chief Executive Officer of C&C Group. He is a non-executive director of Eircom Group plc and non-executive chairman of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Limited. He is a past president of IBEC, a council member of Dublin Chamber and the Irish Management Institute, a non-executive director of Repak Ltd and Uniphar plc and a fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.
	John Trethowan John Trethowan MBA lives in Lisbane, Co Down, and is a Non Executive Director of the South East Health and Social Services Trust in NI. John has recently retired as an Executive Director of National Irish Bank, having formerly also held a similar position with the Northern Bank from 2001 to 2005. He was President of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland in 2006, and Chaired the National Irish Bank Pension Trustees Ltd. John was a member of the Taoiseach's Task Force on Active Citizenship.