Minister Hackett appoints two new Directors to Board of Coillte

Senator Pippa Hackett, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for forestry, has announced the appointment of two new Directors to the Board of Coillte. Current Coillte CEO, Ms Imelda Hurley has been appointed as an Executive Director and Mr Frank Hayes has been appointed as Non-Executive Director.

Imelda Hurley’s appointment follows the precedence whereby the CEO of the company has been appointed to the Board. Her membership will ensure coherence between the wishes of the Board and strategy implementation by the company. Ms Hurley’s term on the Board will run for the remainder of her tenure as CEO, up to November,2026.

Frank Hayes has been appointed for a five year period effective from 21 January 2022. Mr Hayes’ appointment was made following a competitive process undertaken, in accordance with the Guidelines for Appointments to State Boards, by the Public Appointments Service (PAS).

Welcoming the two new appointees, the Minister commented,

“I am pleased to appoint Imelda Hurley and Frank Hayes to the Board of Coillte. Together they bring a broad range of experience and skills to the Board and will be hugely beneficial in the strategic development of the company. Their appointments mean that the Board of Coillte is once again operating at full strength. I am pleased also that with these appointments that the gender balance target of 40% for state boards has been exceeded in addition to the fact that Coillte also has currently has a female CEO and Chairperson”.

Minister Hackett added

“As the state forestry company, it is imperative the Coillte leads the way in implementation of a multi-functional forestry model, which successfully balances commercial, social and environmental needs. Their work will be central to a whole range of Government priorities in the coming years and I am engaging closely with them on implementation of these. I wish the new appointees and the entire Board well in their endeavours”.

Notes for Editors

Imelda Hurley

In 2019, Imelda Hurley was appointed the CEO of Coillte, Ireland’s state forestry company, which is responsible for managing over one million acres of primarily forested lands.

Prior to joining Coillte, Imelda was Chief Financial Officer of Origin Enterprises plc with operations in Ireland, UK, Belgium, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. She has previously held a broad range of positions including Chief Financial Officer & Head of Sustainability at PCH International; Group Finance Director at Greencore Group plc; and was a Member of the Board at Ervia (formerly Bord Gáis Éireann).

Imelda is an experienced executive and non-executive director having been a Board Member in public company, state owned, private equity and venture capital backed businesses. She has worked extensively in Ireland, the UK, Eastern Europe, Hong Kong, China and Australia and, as a result, has a strong international mindset. Imelda is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and an alumna of Harvard Business School.

Frank Hayes

Frank Hayes has more than forty years’ experience in international business and served as Group Director of Corporate Affairs in Kerry Group plc from 1991 to 2018. Formerly an agricultural inspector in the Department of Agriculture, he served as Agriculture and Food Attaché at the Irish Embassy in London. He is a former Board member of An Bord Bia, Siamsa Tíre and the Crawford Art Gallery Cork. He also served as Chairman of An Bord Bia Audit & Risk Committee from 2012 to 2019.