Our expert panel

Caroline McEnery, The HR Suite

Caroline is a HR and Employment Law Expert. A former member of the Low Pay Commission, she is also an adjudicator in the Work Place Relations Commission. As a trained mediator, she has completed a Masters in Human Resources at the University of Limerick and is CIPD accredited.

For over 20 years, Caroline worked across various areas of HR in Kerry Group and in the retail and hospitality sector. She was the Operations and HR Director of the Garvey Group prior to setting up The HR Suite in 2009.

Mairea Doyle Balfe, Crowe

Mairea is a director in Crowe’s hotel and leisure department. A graduate of DIT Cathal Brugha Street, she has over twenty years of industry experience with a specialisation in the hospitality industry.

She has held senior management positions in the hotel sector and has gained an in-depth knowledge of the sector operationally and financially. Mairea’s expertise is focused on the areas of feasibility studies, operations analysis, financial analysis, hotel and management company procurement and management contract negotiations

Oonagh Cremins, The Innovate Room

Oonagh has assisted countless organisations with business turnaround and cultivating commercial awareness. the cornerstone of her work. The cornerstone of her work is leading teams from both organisational and stakeholder levels to generate greater revenues in their business.

Oonagh’s success lies with her ability to quickly gain insights into a business – assessing and addressing areas of need or focus. It’s also based on her ability to educate project members on how to grow new channels and yield better results from their revenue streams. Her key areas of expertise are business analysis, maximising online and offline distribution channels and strategic sales and revenue planning.

Helen O’Leary, The Innovate Room

Helen’s experiences encompass multi segments and multi-channel sales and marketing, both at home here in Ireland and internationally in the UK and USA. Her extensive experience across a full range of segments and channels equips her to work with both international and boutique clients.

Helen assists in maximising revenue streams by working with teams to build on existing success, and designs and implements strategic commercial plans and builds brand value. Her areas of expertise include business analysis, new market diversification and optimisation of return on investment.

Joe Quinn, Executive Consultant, recently retired from Dalata Hotels PLC

Joe was Group Operations and Integration Manager for the Clayton Hotels at Dalata from 2014 to 2018. During his preceding 25 years with Jurys Doyle Hotel Group PLC, Joe held a number of positions including General Manager, Construction Projects Manager, Group General Manager and finally Chief Operations Officer.

As COO, he was instrumental in opening 12 new hotels in the UK between 2007 and 2012, gaining previous experience during his time with International Hotel Groups like Intercontinental and Hilton (UK). He has also held management positions in industrial catering institutions such as Lloyds of London and the Army & Navy Club, Pall Mall. A graduate of Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) and Ashridge Business School (UK), he is a fellow of the Irish Hospitality Institute.