The Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) has announced the appointment of Julie O’Neill as non-executive Chairperson of the company. She will take over as Chairperson at the beginning of March. This follows the announcement made on 7 January this year that Dermod Dwyer was to step down as Executive Chairman after a 23-year tenure.

Julie O’Neill is an independent non-executive director at Ryanair Plc, AXA Life Europe and XL Insurance Company SE. She is a senior advisor to the Irish Infrastructure Fund at AMP Capital Investors UK Ltd and an Associate Director at Murray Consultants.

In a career that spanned 37 years in the Irish public service, Julie O’Neill worked in strategic policy development and implementation in eight government departments, culminating in a seven-year term as Secretary General of the Department of Transport from 2002 to 2009. From 1997 to 2001 she was the Assistant Secretary at the Department of Tourism, Sport & Recreation, where she oversaw the project to establish a public private partnership to design, build, construct and operate what eventually became The CCD.

Stephen Meehan, Chief Executive of The CCD, said, “We are excited to have Julie join The CCD boards as Chairperson. She has such a wide range of skills and, in particular, her experience across both the tourism and public sectors will add greatly to an already strong board.”

Philip Doyle, a director and Principal of the Irish Infrastructure Fund said, “We are delighted to welcome Julie to the Board of The CCD. Julie has an outstanding record as a highly capable leader and brings with her a wealth of experience and skills. We very much look forward to her future contributions to The CCD.”

Julie O’Neill, Chairperson Designate, said, “It is a great honour to take on this role and work with the Board and excellent, professional team in The CCD. I look forward to working with them and all key stakeholders in the Office of Public Works and the tourism sector to ensure that the centre is poised to play its part in reinvigorating Irish tourism when the time is right.”

She added, “Meanwhile, we are privileged to contribute to addressing the challenges posed by the global pandemic, by hosting the plenary sessions of Dáil Eireann. We will continue to work with government departments and state bodies to assist in any way we can with helping Ireland through and out of the impacts of Covid-19. Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Dermod Dwyer, who is stepping down from his role as Executive Chairman after 23 years of steering this project from concept and design through its first ten years and to thank him for leaving The CCD in such good shape to tackle the challenges ahead.”

Julie O’Neill will commence her role on 1 March 2021.