Women in Leadership

Our final Women in Leadership lunch of 2019 has the retail powerhouse Breege O’Donoghue as our special guest.  Breege is recognised as one of the most powerful people in Irish retailing, and has won several awards over the years including the “Lifetime Achievement” gong at the Image Businesswoman of the year awards and earlier this year was named Irish Times “Top 1000 distinguished leader in business”. 

Breege O’Donoghue, Executive Director – Primark Group 

Breege is Executive Director of the Primark Group, having remained as an ambassador for the brand following her retirement.  She joined Penney’s in 1979 set up their HR unit, and then spent the next 37 years as part of a tight-knit leadership team which transformed the Irish fashion retailer into a global success story.  

During her time with Primark, she was a board member and group director for business development and new markets, where she oversaw the retail giant’s entry into new markets across Europe and into the US.  In addition to her work at Primark; Breege has held board positions with State companies including An Post and Aer Rianta and was Chairwoman of the Labour Relations Commission for seven years. She is the chair of the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland, and is currently working with the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School to develop an MSc in retail management.
Breege also mentors a group of women as part of the “Going for Growth” initiative run by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG.  In May 2019, Breege was named Irish Times “Top 1000 distinguished leader in business”.  

Guest MC for this event will be Orla Burke, Senior Vice President & Partner, EMEA Healthcare Lead with FleishmanHillard 

BOOKING IS CLOSED – THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

The Women in Leadership series is proudly supported by: