Head of Meta Ireland Anne O’Leary has been appointed president of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec) for 2024-2025. She succeeds senior vice-president of Pfizer Global Supply, Paul Duffy.
“I am immensely proud to have been appointed as Ibec president,” Ms O’Leary said.
In her speech at the annual president’s dinner on Thursday evening, Ms O’Leary paid tribute to the 20 per cent of the Irish workforce that come from abroad saying “our economic model has delivered because of our success in developing high-performing home-grown talent alongside our ability to attract international talent”.
She said she sees diversity, equality and inclusion in businesses “not just as a driver for a better business, but as a foundation for a better society.”
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Ms O’Leary said a key theme to her time as president of the organisation will be “openness”.
“Openness to flows of trade, capital, innovation and people will continue to be critical to the future of our economic success,” she said.
She also encouraged the Government to invest in “continued gaps in our critical and social infrastructure, in areas such as housing, childcare and education” as they form part of the State’s overall economic growth.
Ms O’Leary said the country was in a strong economic position because of its openness to trade and capital investment.
She credited the work of businesses throughout the State and “their ambition to grow and scale” as part of the reason for Ireland’s economic position.
“We must continue to be agile and responsive to new investment, support Irish businesses in internationalising, and ensure that Ireland remains a place where careers can grow and develop,” she said.
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Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy welcomed her appointment , saying it was important to have someone with Ms O’Leary’s experience supporting the business community in Ireland.
Ms O’Leary has a “deep understanding of the global business landscape in Ireland and, through her many roles, has worked closely with the Irish SME sector”, he said.
Ms O’Leary joined Meta as the vice-president of mid-market global business group in EMEA, and in May last year she was appointed to her current role.
She was previously chief executive of Vodafone for nine years and before that she was managing director at BT Ireland and regional director at Esat Telecom.
Last week, the Central Statistics Office released its provisional figures for retail sales in July 2024 showing the volumes of sales had increased marginally by 0.1 per cent compared to the previous month. The largest monthly change was in the clothing and textiles sector, which rose 4.8 per cent.
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