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Bord Bia

Bord Bia Senior Leadership Team

Tara McCarthy, Bord Bia CEO

Tara McCarthy is the Chief Executive of Bord Bia and brings with her over 20 years’ experience in the wider food industry. She was previously Chief Executive for Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s seafood development agency and has operated in overseas markets for 10 years including Germany, France and Belgium. Tara holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from UCG with an MBS in Marketing from Smurfit Business School and is an affiliate of IMD Business School, Switzerland. Tara was awarded Fellowship of the Marketing Institute of Ireland in September 2018.  In April 2019 Tara was awarded UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business’ Outstanding Alumnus Award.

Padraig Brennan, Sectors Director

Padraig's role as Director of Sectors with Bord Bia involves the management of Bord Bia work programmes with meat, dairy, beverage, seafood and prepared consumer foods companies. Prior to this, Padraig held the position of Director of Markets, which involved the management of Bord Bia’s 13 international offices and implementing the Board’s international marketing and promotion programme for food and drink. Padraig has previously held the position of Sustainability Manager in Bord Bia and was centrally involved in the development and implementation of Bord Bia’s Origin Green Sustainability programme.

Una Fitzgibbon, Marketing & Communications Director

Una is Bord Bia’s Marketing and Communications Director responsible for leading and directing brand reputation for “Food Brand Ireland” and Bord Bia. Una leads and directs teams in insight led strategic planning, brand management, content and advertising creation, digital marketing, PR media communications and events marketing – working across the food chain with clients, customers and key stakeholders to bringing brands to life. Una previously held international management roles with Enterprise Ireland, London and Manchester; Omnicom Media, London; Diageo, London. Una is a BComm Graduate of UCD and is a Graduate and Alumni Member of the University of Cambridge Business Sustainability Leadership Programme. 

Ailish Forde, Markets Director

Ailish has held a number of marketing and communications roles, chiefly in the FMCG sector.   Prior to joining Bord Bia, she  acted as  Group Public Affairs Director, for Coca-Cola HBC, building the reputation of the company and its brands across 28 markets worldwide.  She previously led the public affairs teams at Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Diageo Ireland, acted as Director General of RGDATA and Director of Consumer Foods at IBEC.  Ailish also spent 5 years leading a marketing consultancy in Italy where she designed marketing strategies for companies in European markets.

Helen King, Strategic Insight, Planning & Evaluation Director

With a background in Economics and client-side consumer marketing, Helen brings a strategic, consumer-centred approach to business, turning cutting edge insight into actionable plans for Irish companies. Helen has nurtured and guided many Irish brands’ success and her initiatives have helped to further Ireland’s global reputation as a premium supplier of food and drinks. Helen's team work with companies ranging from artisan start-ups to household-name multinationals to develop innovative strategies that build resilient brands and enable commercial success. Helen has spoken at conferences all over the world, has won multiple awards, and has been referenced in many talks and in trade, consumer and academic publications.

Michael Murphy, Organisation & Industry Talent Development Director

Michael has worked with Bord Bia for over 20 years and currently leads Bord Bia’s human resource and industry talent division. He is charged with transforming Bord Bia’s people strategy including performance management, staff engagement, talent management, recruitment and learning & development. He also leads Bord Bia's five postgraduate programmes to secure and develop talent pipelines for the Irish food and drink industry. 

Mike Neary, Horticulture & Farmer Engagement Director

Mike Neary graduated from University College Dublin in 1987 with a Degree in Agriculture (specialised in Commercial Horticulture). From 1987 to 1991 Mike worked as a Horticulture Crop Consultant for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food in the UK. In 1991 Mike returned to Ireland where he took up a position as a Development Marketing Executive with Bord Glas (The Horticultural Development Board) where he remained until 2004 when Bord Glas merged with Bord Bia. At the end of 2005 Mike took on the role of manger of the Quality Department in Bord Bia. In 2007 he became the Senior Manager for the Horticulture Division. In 2017 - 2018 Mike took on the role as the Director of The Meat & Horticulture Division. Mike’s current role is the Director of Horticulture & Farmer Engagement.