As I rolled up through the ESB, I started to believe I could run it

Since retiring as head of the ESB, Padraig McManus has joined a number of boards and invested in emerging companies

Padraig McManus Feargal Ward

CV: Padraig McManus

Role: chairman of Eir and the Curragh Racecourse, former ESB chief executive

Age:65

Family: married with two children and three grandchildren.

Hobbies: golf and walking

Favourite book: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Favourite movie: Groundhog Day

It’s 7.30am and Kildare’s business moguls are queueing for sausages and hash browns at Killashee Hotel.

It is an early start, but soon seats are filled and eyes are turned towards the ...