The first two months of the year have seen some big changes announced at management level in Ornua, Dairygold and Tirlán. Earlier this month, the Board of Ornua Co-operative announced the appointment of Conor Galvin as Chief Executive of Ornua.  

Conor, who is currently Chief Executive of Dairygold Co-operative Society, will take up his new role in May. Conor joined Dairygold in 2014 and has held a number of roles in its Senior Leadership Team before becoming Chief Executive in January 2022.  Prior to joining Dairygold, he was Finance Director with DCC’s Food & Beverage division, and he was also Country Finance Manager with Procter & Gamble in Ireland. 

Originally from a farming background in Co. Westmeath, Conor is a science graduate from University College Dublin, and holds an MBA from the Smurfit Business School. He is also a qualified accountant.

Dairygold will now begin the process to recruit and appoint a new Chief Executive. In the interim Mr Michael Harte, the Society’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), has been appointed Interim Chief Executive, with immediate effect, to lead the organisation during the transition period. Michael has been CFO at Dairygold since 2006 and he also took on the role of Interim Chief Executive in the Society in 2009 during a previous Chief Executive transition. Conor will take up his new role in the coming months and in the meantime, he will work with the Board and Michael to ensure a smooth and efficient transition.

Meanwhile the Board ofTirlán Co-operative Society Limited has also announced that after leading the organisation through its recent transformation and a highly successful 40-year career, Jim Bergin will retire from his position as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 31 July 2024. The Board has announced Seán Molloy as CEO Designate. Seán has been an outstanding strategic leader within the business for the past 18 years.

The announcement follows a comprehensive recruitment process, which was initiated when Jim Bergin informed the Board in June 2023 of his intention to retire from his position as CEO and to step down from the Board in 2024. The process was led by Tirlán’s Nominations & Governance Committee, with the independent guidance of a global Executive Search Firm. 

Seán Molloy, who is currently Chief Ingredients and Agribusiness Officer and a director of Tirlán for the past 12 years, will assume the role of CEO on 1 August 2024, allowing for a smooth transition. In his current role he is responsible for revenues of over €2.5 billion, exporting across 100 countries. 

MART CHANGES

On the marts front, there have been two new appointments in recent weeks. Michael Nolan has been appointed by Balla mart as their new manager and Ciaran Lynch is the new manager at Elphin mart.

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