Padraig McManus delivers keynote speech at AAB Leadership Event in conjunction with Ulster University Business School

These were just some of the thoughts shared with business leaders by former Chairman of Eir and Mincon Group Plc, Padraig McManus, as keynote speaker at the AAB Annual Leadership Talk.

The event was part of the 2018 MLM Management Month initiative, in association with Ulster University Business School held at the Belfast campus.

Born of Northern Ireland parents in Co. Kildare, Padraig McManus graduated as an engineer from UCD in 1973. He then joined the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) following in the footsteps of his father who was also an ESB engineer.

Padraig worked in a number of roles with ESB including serving as CEO for almost 10 years. In 2010, he led the £1bn acquisition of NIE Networks overseeing the financial, political and general stakeholder issues of integrating the business into the ESB Group.

Chairman of Eir (Eircom Holdings Ltd) from 2012 to 2017, he was also Chairman of mining equipment manufacturer Mincon Group Plc from 2013 to 2017.

A Fellow of the Institute of Engineers in Ireland, Padraig is currently President of the Economic and Social Research Institute of Ireland, Chairman of the National Maternity Hospital Foundation and Chairman of the Curragh Racecourse. He is on the Council of Chartered Accountants Ireland and is a former board member of the Irish Management Institute and Business in the Community.

During the one-hour conversation with broadcaster Gerry Kelly, Padraig gave a detailed overview of his career and also talked about the many community projects in which he has been involved including voluntary trips to Ghana to rebuild primary and secondary schools.