Every day, without most of us seeing or hearing them, there are lobbyists orbiting the Government like satellites circling a decision-making planet.
Organisations big and small spend money, capital and time trying to exert enough gravitational pull to turn the tides of policies and politics.
While interests are boundless, influence is finite. Many people set out to change ministers’ minds, but only some succeed.
Over the last five years, a number of former government advisers have left departments and joined lobbying or public relations roles – and the wider corporate world.
READ MORE
Though there are clear rules which say that special advisers need to take a “cooling-off period” of at least a year before engaging in lobbying, in many cases the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), the public ethics watchdog, grants permission to former advisers to take these roles.
Sometimes this can involve the cooling-off period being waived; at other times, Sipo imposes conditions on who former advisers can and cannot lobby.
The Department of Public Expenditure has previously conceded that the perception of a “revolving door” between public and private sectors “can serve to undermine public trust in the impartiality of public bodies”.
[ Special advisers’ salaries ‘money well-spent’, Michael McGrath saysOpens in new window ]
It also warned that post-employment restrictions must be “proportionate”, and “do not have a chilling effect on those wishing to contribute their expertise to the public service, particularly in positions of a short- to medium-term nature”.
A large number of high-profile government advisers have left politics over the last five years and taken up positions elsewhere, proving there can be a lucrative post-government career.
Philip O’Callaghan
O’Callaghan has a long history with Fine Gael. He spent 10 years working for Leo Varadkar, eventually becoming the former taoiseach’s deputy chief of staff between 2022 and 2024. After Varadkar stepped down in March 2024, O’Callaghan worked on Nina Carberry’s campaign in the European elections. He then went on to work on Helen McEntee’s general election campaign in November of the same year. In January 2025, it was announced that O’Callaghan had joined the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as global director for government strategy and policy advice.
Nick Miller
Miller was a long-time close adviser to Varadkar while the former Fine Gael leader climbed the ministerial ranks between 2011 and 2017. When Varadkar succeeded Enda Kenny as party leader and taoiseach in 2017, Miller became government press secretary.
In December 2024, eight months after Varadkar’s shock departure from national politics, Miller joined Rockwood Public Affairs, the consultancy firm founded by former Labour Party senator Lorraine Higgins. It is understood that Miller was given consent by Sipo to join Rockwood. Last March, Miller was hired as a speech writer for European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Matthew Lynch
Matthew Lynch spent more than 16 years working for Fine Gael, initially within the political party and later on as a senior government adviser. He worked as a special adviser to Frances Fitzgerald and Simon Coveney when they were ministers and became special adviser to Varadkar in 2020, remaining as an adviser to Simon Harris until February 2025.
Lynch was hired as a public policy manager for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, last September. Lynch is named on the lobbying register as having lobbied the government in the last four months of last year on behalf of Meta for “simplification of digital regulation at EU level”. A spokeswoman for Meta said: “Any queries about Sipo waivers, or partial waivers, are best directed to Sipo.”
Sarah O’Neill
O’Neill started out in politics as a parliamentary adviser to Richard Bruton in 2016 before becoming the then minister for education’s special adviser in 2017. She stayed with Bruton until 2020 when she became a special adviser to Varadkar. O’Neill was expecting a baby when Varadkar resigned in early 2024. She was granted permission from Sipo for her cooling-off period to start from when Varadkar left politics in March 2024 and then became head of public affairs for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland in August 2025.
Brid Murphy
Murphy started working for Fine Gael in 2012 before eventually working as an adviser for Varadkar. She had previously worked for public relations firm Red Flag. After Varadkar left politics in early 2024, Murphy joined Kerry Group the following August as its global head of media relations. It is understood that although Murphy’s role with Kerry Group was specifically related to media relations, she was required to secure permission from Sipo to waive the “cooling-off” period because Kerry Group engages in lobbying. This permission was sought and granted. Last April, Murphy returned to a role in Government as a special adviser to the then newly appointed Fine Gael Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill.
Lisa-Dee Collery
Collery worked her way up through the Fianna Fáil press office, which she joined in 2014, eventually becoming government press secretary in July 2020. After Paul Clarkson took over the role in late 2020, a role he still holds today, Collery continued working as a special adviser to the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, for two more years. In January 2024, Collery was appointed public affairs lead at State body the Land Development Agency after a cooling-off period.
Chris Donoghue
Donoghue was one of a number of journalists to follow the well-trodden path between the Irish media and Government Buildings when he left a high-profile role with Newstalk radio to become an adviser for Simon Coveney in 2017. When Simon Harris took over as Fine Gael leader and taoiseach in 2024, Donoghue became Government press secretary. He left his government job in February 2025. The following month he set up a company called Mourne Advisory Strategic Services Ltd. Later that year, Donoghue was involved in running the unsuccessful presidential campaign for Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys. It was recently reported that his company was also contracted by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to provide communications and public affairs advice.
Ed Brophy
Brophy was chief of staff to former Labour tánaiste Joan Burton before crossing the political aisle to become a senior adviser to Fine Gael minister for finance Paschal Donohoe in 2018. He remained with Donohoe until 2021, when he left to set up his own consultancy firm called Tyrconnell Strategy. That year, Brophy received permission from Sipo to engage in lobbying as long as he did not seek to lobby former colleagues in the Department of Finance. He lobbied the government on behalf of environmental, tech and housing companies. In 2022, he joined online retailer Amazon as head of public policy for Ireland. In 2023, his role was expanded in a promotion to include EU strategy.
Grant Sweetnam
Sweetnam joined Fianna Fáil in 2016 as an economic adviser. In 2020, he became a special adviser to then Fianna Fáil minister for public expenditure and reform Michael McGrath. He worked for McGrath when he was minister for finance between 2022 and July 2024. In July 2025, it was announced that he had joined Rockwood Public Affairs. In December 2025, Sweetnam became head of public policy for Chartered Accountants Ireland. He took up the Rockwood and Chartered Accountants Ireland roles more than a year after he left his job as a government adviser.
Fiach Kelly
Another former journalist, Kelly left a job as deputy political editor at The Irish Times to become a special adviser for then minister for justice Helen McEntee in 2020. Kelly remained with the Fine Gael minister until January 2024, when he departed for a role as head of public policy and public affairs at Diageo, owner of Guinness. It is understood that Kelly engaged with Sipo before starting his new job. Since then, he has lobbied politicians on behalf of the drinks manufacturer.
Tanya Warren
Warren had a background in communications work for arts and film organisations before she became a special adviser for minister for arts Catherine Martin in September 2020. She remained with the Green Party minister until November 2023 when she became director of policy for the new media regulator Coimisiún na Meán. It is understood that her new role does not involve lobbying, and Warren is not listed among Coimisiún na Meán’s designated public officials for the purposes of lobbying.
Ciara Shaughnessy
Shaughnessy worked with Fianna Fáil for four years before becoming a special adviser to Darragh O’Brien when he became the minister for housing in 2020. Shaughnessy worked with the minister until February 2025, when she left politics. In May of that year, she became the director of corporate affairs at the Irish Tax Institute. Shaughnessy said she sought and was granted a waiver from Sipo, which exempted her from the one-year lobbying cooling-off period.
Darran Brennan
Brennan, who has a legal background, became a special adviser to Fianna Fáil minister for agriculture Charlie McConalogue in 2020 for more than three years before becoming head of governmental affairs for dairy co-operative Tirlán in November 2023. Brennan said he sought guidance from Sipo before applying for the role at Tirlán. In February 2025 he returned to law, joining legal firm Mason, Hayes and Curran as a senior associate.
Patrick Donohoe
Donohoe also worked for McConalogue, joining the minister for agriculture’s team in 2020 at the same time as Brennan. Donohoe had previously worked for the Irish Farmer’s Journal and Lakeland Dairies. In August 2023, he returned to Lakeland Dairies as head of corporate affairs. Donohoe said he was advised he did not need Sipo approval for his role with Lakeland Dairies as it did not involve lobbying. In July 2025, Donohoe became the chief executive of Animal Health Ireland.
Éamonn Fahey
Fahey joined the Green Party in 2019 as a researcher. In 2020, he became a special adviser to leader Eamon Ryan. He remained in the role after Ryan stepped down as leader and was replaced by Roderic O’Gorman. In January 2025, he left his role as a new government was being formed without the Green Party. That February, Fahey joined public relations firm Drury. The PR firm said Fahey’s role is director of research and policy “and therefore does not involve lobbying”. “However, out of an abundance of caution, he did seek and secure a waiver from Sipo under section 22 of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 before taking up the role,” the company said.
Anna Conlan
Anna Conlan was a long-time aide of former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan; she first worked for him as a parliamentary adviser in 2016. Between November 2019 and the February 2020 general election, she was the Green Party’s director of elections. She worked as an adviser for Ryan from 2020 until 2024, and continued working with his replacement Roderic O’Gorman until January 2025. In September of last year, Conlan became the head of Ireland Electrified, a renewable energy trade association. A spokesperson for Ireland Electrified confirmed that Conlan “applied for and received consent from Sipo to enable her to take up her role as head of Ireland Electrified”.
Ferghal Blaney
Blaney is another former political correspondent who crossed over to the other side, becoming a special adviser to minister of state James Lawless in August 2024. Blaney continued working with Lawless, who later became minister for further and higher education. In July 2025, Blaney followed a number of other former advisers in joining Rockwood Public Affairs. Last year, one of his clients was unsuccessful presidential nominee Nick Delehanty. Blaney said that in his case seeking a waiver “didn’t come into play as I departed during my probationary period”.
