Profiles & Interviews | Business Post

Profile: Bernard Looney, BP chief executive

The Business Post in 2020 profiled the Kerry native who has reportedly stood down as boss of the global oil giant

Spreading his wings: Kenny Jacobs’ move to the top flight

Kenny Jacobs’ lack of experience in any top role may be a concern as he takes the reins at DAA, but his strong background as a good communicator, retailer and marketer should stand to him as he looks to grow the semi-state airport company’s airports reach at home and abroad

Interview: ‘We become prisoners of our own history . . . Many people don’t realise they have an aptitude to work in IT’ — Barry Lowry, chief information officer

The chief digital advisor to the government on his ambitious targets for MyGovID and why more workers in their 40s should be encouraged to retrain for well-paid jobs in IT

Taste Maker: Emmet Bosonnet, Kopper Kreations founder, on the importance of measuring twice and cutting once

Kopper Kreations specialises in unique, eye-catching homewares made from reclaimed copper, steel and brass.

The Profile: How Imran Khan got bowled out of office

The former cricketing legend was ousted as Pakistan’s prime minister earlier this month by a vote of no confidence, amid allegations of a US-assisted conspiracy – but he has vowed to fight ‘till the last ball’

The Big Interview: ‘I grew up in Blanch, my life was playing football with the lads and I wasn’t thinking about global problems’ – Kevin O’Toole, co-founder of Exergyn

At school, Kevin O’Toole wasn’t really sure what a mechanical engineer did, but thought it sounded cool. Graduating from Technical University Dublin with an engineering PhD, he became fascinated with the broader potential of smart alloys, which led to the patenting of a cutting-edge heat pump free of refrigerant gases, which are one of the main causes of global warming

Jane Campion: The Kiwi director whose star is on the rise again after a second Oscar nomination

A decade after she almost walked away from movie-making for good, the woman behind the Netflix drama The Power of the Dog is in the running for the Academy Award for best director

‘I wouldn’t have succeeded in business if I thought that I had to win everything’ – The Big Interview: Pat Ryan

Multibillionaire insurance tycoon Pat Ryan is proud of both his Irish roots and his alma mater Northwestern University in Illinois, and is thrilled to be able to back the visit of its American football team to Dublin next August

The Profile: Steve Huffman

The tech mogul’s Reddit site has become an unofficial tastemaker of the internet. Now it’s poised to go public

The Profile: Jeremy Clarkson

After being fired by the BBC from Top Gear for assaulting an Irish producer, Jeremy Clarkson has found himself with an unlikely hit on Amazon Prime: a farming reality show set on his 1,000 acres of land in Oxfordshire

The Big Interview: Pat O’Doherty, ESB chief executive

As the ESB boss prepares to step down after ten years at the helm, he says he feels ‘pride and satisfaction’ at what he and the company have achieved

The Sunday Interview: Mark Kennedy of Mazars Ireland

The managing partner knows the history of Mazars Ireland but has strong opinions on the future of accountancy in Ireland, including the importance of joint audits of companies

The Profile: Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition leader

Alexei Navalny has for years been a thorn in the side of Vladimir Putin, but last September the Kremlin finally decided to take him out by poisoning him with the nerve agent Novichok. Navalny survived the attempt but, now back in Russia, he is in jail facing trial on February 3

The Profile: Parler founder John Matze

The head of the ‘free speech’ social media site Parler has found himself without a platform after Amazon, Stripe, Apple and Google all cut their ties with it

The Sunday Interview: Laura Dillon

The head of Dutch private equity outfit Waterland’s Irish office is feeling positive about the year ahead, despite the many challenges looming

The Profile: Mike Ashley

The Newcastle United owner and self-confessed ‘power drinker’ is banking on his latest sponsorship deal being just the tonic to revive the poor performance of the Irish arm of his Frasers Group

The Profile: Ronan O’Gara

Ronan O‘Gara had a stellar playing career with Munster and Ireland. Now he’s topping the French club rugby table with La Rochelle. Could he one day answer Munster’s call?

The Profile: Hollywood actor and activist George Clooney

The actor/director has consistently used his considerable star power to focus on global issues he wants more of us to care about

Profile: Paul Elliot Singer, hedge fund owner

The investor, who is looking at acquiring Aryzta, runs Elliot Management, a hedge fund that has been the described by the founder of a company it took over as ‘like the Death Eaters, sucking the life and hope out of the place’

The Sunday Interview: Frank O’Keeffe, managing partner EY

Despite missing the buzz of being in the office and out on site with clients, Frank O’Keeffe has helped to steer the company successfully through this potentially traumatic year and is already looking optimistically at its post-Covid-19 future