Driving Competitiveness Through Ireland’s EU Presidency

Barry Andrews is a Member of the European Parliament, representing Dublin since 2019. A member of the Fianna Fáil party in Ireland who is part of Renew Europe, they are under the ALDE Party umbrella in Europe. Before being elected as an MEP in 2019, Barry was Minister for Children in the Irish Government from 2008-2011 and was a TD (Member of Parliament) from 2002-2011. From 1999-2002, he was a Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council member in Co. Dublin. A teacher by profession, Barry’s professional experience includes serving as CEO of GOAL, a global humanitarian response agency, and Director General of the Institute of International & European Affairs. Barry’s work in the European Parliament since being re-elected in 2024, topping the poll in Dublin, includes a number of high-profile positions, including: Chair of the Committee on International Development; Co-chair of the Democracy Support Group; Vice Chair of the Palestine Delegation; Committee on Industry, Research and Energy; Delegation of relations with the UK. Barry is married, with three children.

Dr Orlaigh Quinn is the Interim Director General at the Institute of International and European Affairs. Orlaigh is also an independent non-executive director on several boards in the public, not-for-profit and private sector. She has had a distinguished public service career and has deep expertise in policy, governance and organisational transformation, at national and international level. She was the first woman appointed as Secretary General of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2016–2023), and advised government during pivotal moments for Ireland’s economy like Brexit, Covid-19, and the war in Ukraine. She led the development and implementation of key national strategies such as the White Paper on Enterprise, the National Digital Strategy and the Trade and Investment Strategy. She also spearheaded reform of Ireland’s public and civil service at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, leading Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union as Head of EU and International Affairs and developing national policies as Head of National Pensions in the Department of Social Protection. At international level, she has worked for the European Commission, as an expert on employment and social policy. She is a former Visiting Research Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and has a Doctorate in Governance from Queen’s University Belfast. She is the author of two books on public policy topics.

Jim Power has worked as an economist in the private sector for over 35 years. He is owner manager of Jim Power Economics, an economic and financial consultancy, which he set up in 2009. He was previously Treasury Economist at AIB (1987-1991), Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland Group (1992-2000) and Chief Economist Friends First Group (2000 to 2018). He is a board director of Love Irish Food, BMW Financial Services, and Arboretum Garden Centre. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland. He successfully completed the Institute of Directors Diploma examinations in Company Direction in 2022. He teaches on the Executive MBA and the Full-Time MBA at Smurfit Business School, UCD. In February 2021, Jim and Chris Johns launched their own Podcast ‘The Other Hand’, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcasts hosts. He lives in Dublin and is a native of Waterford. He comes from a farming background.

Caroline Spillane CDir is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Directors Ireland. She commenced the role in July 2022. Caroline has held several senior leadership roles including most recently as Director General of Engineers Ireland, the all-Ireland professional body for engineers, CEO of the Medical Council of Ireland, the independent statutory regulator of over 25,000 medical practitioners and Assistant National Director of the Health Services Executive. Caroline is an experienced Non-Executive Director serving as a board member of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), ESB Networks and Irish Manufacturing Research. She is also a member of the Advisory Group to Balance for Better Business, an independent business-led Review Group established by the government to improve gender balance in senior leadership in Ireland. Caroline's qualifications include a BA from UCC and an MA from TUD. She is currently undertaking a Doctoral programme with SETU.