A conversation with Liam O’Dwyer which will inspire whatever your beliefs or career path.

Liam O'Dwyer began his working life as a Catholic priest. It wasn’t work as he saw it, more a life of service in the community. That became a focus of his future when he left the priesthood, married and went on to build a career leading financial and charitable organisations.

When he left the priesthood having met his future wife Mary his first job was managing e a programme for the traveller community which involved young travellers learning building trade skills.

He then moved to Amsterdam where Mary went to work with ITT the US global manufacturing company. When he saw the remuneration package, she was offered he said, “I’ll go with you.” While in Amsterdam he secured a six-month HR consultancy role.

On returning to Ireland with Mary and a young child Liam joined the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, first as co-ordinator for the East Region and then as National Director. From there it was CEO of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) before moving to the Catholic Institute for Deaf People where he oversaw the establishment of a national Deaf Village, a place where all organisations representing the deaf community in Ireland are based.When that project was completed, he joined the Irish Red Cross.

For those considering their career path Liam has these thoughts, “Take your time making decisions, listening and showing empathy are critical attributes as a leader”

he says.

On this podcast Jim and Ellen don't just chat about Liam's career. The conversation ranges across the changes in the Catholic church and the changing culture in the US. Liam also describes negotiating with the EU in Brussels on how different the ILCU was when compared with other much larger Credit Unions in Europe. Liam also describes the scale and operation of the Irish Red Cross in comparison with other Red Cross organisations throughout the world. Discussing the deaths of Red Cross personnel from different countries he believes that in many conflicts there has been a complete disrespect for humanitarian organisations. working in an unaligned manner.

Throughout the conversation it is clear that Liam’s beliefs are driven by the desire to live in a place where justice, peace and love are the starter point to drive services that enable communities to work together and to try and enable governments to support justice, fairness and the elimination of poverty.

An appropriate conversation going live in Christmas week.

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The red thread through a career

Corporate affairs and issue management have been some of the red thread through the career of Michael Patten.

But there were times when life might have been different. Like been in Washington DC on 9/11 when he should have been in New York at dinner in a restaurant in one of the Twin Towers.

Coming from a family immersed in media, the creative arts and politics, Sunday lunch in the family home was full of fun and debate which set the tone for his business career..

The conversation in this episode tracks across his career which involved learning about communications, agriculture, food and drink sectors and international business, He began in a relatively small agency specialising in agriculture and moved to high profile corporates working internationally and then to becoming a board member of organisations in the media, forestry, management and state sectors

Michael pivoted through agencies such as Sheedy Communications and Fleishman in Dublin and then in-house with Waterford Foods, Avonmore Foods, Glanbia plc, (twice) and Diageo plc.

Throughout his career he developed interests and accepted challenges at a senior level in reputation management, people management, climate and environmental issues, public affairs, business culture, best practice and purpose.

At one point in the conversation Ellen describes him as a ‘challenge junkie’

You will also hear in this conversation discussions around farmers as great adapters of change, how Irish people integrate so well into international business, particularly in the US and the contribution the Garda Siochana (Irish police) have made to Irish life.

An important career lesson from Michael as someone who has been through a wide variety of organisations is not to interpret purpose narrowly in the ‘me’, because purpose is more powerful if you make a difference to others.

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"Sitting with Nellie” was great career start

‘Sitting with Nellie” is a colloquial British phrase for learning a job by observing and mimicking an experienced worker.

For Martina Byrne the guest on this episode it was an early introduction to the world of communications.

In her case the ’Nellie’ or ‘Nellies’ were two experienced executives at Murray Consultants in Dublin, the late Michael Colley and Pat Keating, who now runs his own agency.

During the conversation with Jim and Ellen she says, "I was hugely lucky to have such great mentors and I continue to encourage new entrants to the business to take every opportunity to watch closely and learn from their more senior colleagues.

"With so many people working from home there needs to be a balance between WFH and person to person engagement in an office.” she says

Martina also discusses the benefits of being in an office with different colleagues. These include being able to have conversations about strategy and client activities, the ability to throw questions across the room in real time, to learn from seeing people under pressure, how they respond and being visible to senior leaders and make an impression on them.

Other themes covered in this episode include, the importance of crisis communications, critical thinking, the transferability of PR/Communications skills, the need for a 'Sheriff 'with regard to AI and the importance of board governance and responsibility

Martina Byrne comes from a farming family in Galway. Her first experience of working in an office came while studying for a BA Communications Degree at Dublin City University. As part of the degree programme she acquired a work experience position in the international tech company IBM.

Her career proper began with Murray Consultants and she moved on to two other agencies in the PR world, McMahon & Partners and Wilson Hartnell, before moving in-house with the energy company Statoil. At Statoil she set up and led the communications department across multiple energy entities in Ireland. She subsequently went back to Wilson Hartnell as as Executive Director and Board Member. From 2017 until earlier this year she was CEO and Deputy Company Secretary for the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) and the Public Relations Consultants Association Ireland (PRCA).

In addition she has been a researcher with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and a Post Doctoral Lecturer in social science at Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD). In 2024 she was appointed as a Non-Executive Member of the Board of Governors & Guardians at the National Gallery of Ireland by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht and Sport.

Earlier this year she established her own agency, Byrne Consultants.

Such a depth of experience provides listeners to this episode with much to consider and learn from when evaluating their own careers.

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