Press release
Five new Board members to join the National Tourism Development Authority (Fáilte Ireland)
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, has today announced the following five new appointments to the board of the National Tourism Development Authority (Fáilte Ireland):
The five appointees will each serve a five-year term.
Commenting on the appointments, Minister Martin said:
“I wish to congratulate all five appointees and wish them the very best during their terms. I am delighted to announce the appointments of such high calibre candidates and am very grateful to them for taking on these very important roles and offering their skills and expertise to the National Tourism Development Authority.”
Speaking today, Chairperson Paul Carty said:
“On behalf of the Authority and executive team at Fáilte Ireland I warmly welcome and congratulate the new members to the Authority who are each highly qualified, experienced and respected in their fields. I am really looking forward to working with them as we continue to support our tourism industry recover sustainably and prosper. The wealth of experience the 5 new members bring will add enormous value to the Authority, to Fáilte Ireland, to the tourism sector and to the country as whole. I wish them well in their new roles.”
The appointments follow a public call for applications on www.stateboards.ie and an assessment process.
Catherine Toolan is managing director of Diageo Irish Brand Homes, a portfolio of world-renowned visitor experiences, consisting of The Guinness Storehouse, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery, Roe & Co Whiskey Distillery and Smithwick’s Experience Kilkenny. The Guinness Storehouse welcomed 1.1 million visitors in 2022 and is a key asset in Dublin city’s tourism offering. In November 2022, Guinness Storehouse was awarded World Beer Visitor Experience at the World Travel Awards in Oman. Since taking the helm at The Guinness Storehouse in 2020, Catherine has steered the team to reposition the experience to attract both domestic and international visitors through a programme of culture, community, food and arts. Some notable collaborations include Other Voices and world-renowned Dublin street artist, Aches.
Prior to joining Diageo, Catherine had a very successful career in brand experiences, events, business tourism, live music, food and hospitality, spanning three continents and including eight years in China. Career highlights include overseeing the build, design, food, retail and hospitality for elite athletes at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing and London.
Angela Ruttledge is Public Affairs and Stakeholder Manager at FoodCloud, an award-winning Irish charity and social enterprise (Irish Charity of the Year 2022), which creates solutions for the redistribution of surplus food, tackling the twin issues of food waste and food insecurity. Angela is a solicitor with a background in financial, corporate and commercial law. She trained with William Fry, before moving to Kosovo to work as a privatisation lawyer with the UN/EU mission there and, upon returning to Ireland, she worked with Byrne Wallace. Angela then moved into the hospitality sector, where she has thirteen years’ experience owning and managing three restaurants with her business partners. During that time, she also spent 10 years on the board of the Restaurants’ Association of Ireland. She has first-hand experience of the many challenges of running an independent business in the hospitality and tourism sector. Angela's involvement in hospitality drove her focus on environmental issues and she is the co-founder of Vytal Ireland, the country's first digital platform for reusable packaging. Angela is an Eisenhower Fellow, 2023.
Kilian Maxwell brings 15 years' global online travel industry experience. As Head of eCommerce (B2C) at City Experiences, he is currently responsible for the online performance of its Walks' products, comprising sightseeing, food tours and daytrips across Europe and North America. City Experiences is part of the Hornblower Group, a San Francisco headquartered global leader in experiences and transportation with a portfolio of cruises, ferry and transportation services and sightseeing businesses. Prior to joining City Experiences, he worked in senior roles in marketing, strategy and corporate development at Hostelworld Group Plc, a leading online travel agent quoted on London and Dublin stock exchanges. He has eight years management consultancy experience at BearingPoint and Arthur Andersen. He holds a Master of Business Studies from UCD and a Bachelor of Business Studies & French from TCD.
Matt Kennedy (PhD) is an internationally recognised climate expert and thought leader with over 20 years’ experience in delivering national and international carbon, climate and sustainable development initiatives across government, industry and academia.
As Arup’s Global Lead for Climate Strategy, Planning and Reporting, Matt leads carbon, climate change services and sustainable development within infrastructure, buildings and cities. He has worked with the United Nations on clean energy and market transformation projects across Africa, Asia and Middle East. Matt was Lead Negotiator for the European Union at the UN Paris Agreement (COP21) negotiations and was a member of the UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee. Matt was previously Chair of the UNEP's Climate Technology Centre and Chair of the IEA’s Renewable Energy Technology Deployment Implementing Agreement. Matt holds a PhD in Engineering from Trinity College Dublin, and Masters degrees from NUI Galway and University College Dublin.
Vivienne Jupp has held several non-executive director roles, is currently the Chair of Premier Lotteries Ireland board and was previously non-executive Chairperson of CIÉ. She is a management consultant and formerly a Global Managing Director in Accenture.
She chaired the Tourism Recovery Taskforce (2010 - 2013) and the new strategy led to a significant improvement in tourist numbers.
Vivienne graduated from University College Dublin with BComm and MBS degrees. In 2000 she received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.