After college, I worked for the accountant (and serial entrepreneur) who imported bicycles into Ireland. I set up a cycling holiday company for him, offering cycling holidays in West Cork, The Ring of Kerry and Connemara. I spent most winter weekends working at consumer holiday shows in France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany promoting our business to holidaymakers long before there were any Greenways in Ireland. I also did the usual European Travel Trade Shows on the Failte Ireland stands, ITB Berlin, World Travel Market, FITUR, Vakantiebeurs. It was great fun and living out of a suitcase was a breeze then. I ended up working for Failte Ireland, promoting Ireland as a destination for walking & cycling holidays for an industry product marketing group. As a natural progression when I married & relocated, I moved on and joined my husband’s family company and have been there ever since. His dad set it up in the 1960’s but retired in 1996. My husband and his brother took over the company and we changed the direction of the business. Previously they focused on affordable outbound tours to Blackpool, Lourdes and Europe, before Ryanair opened the Island to affordable airfare. When I joined ‘the firm’ I used the contacts I had made over the years to reach out to inbound tour operators to Ireland and sell our transportation services. It’s been very successful, we work hard to ensure our clients have a local expert partner they can always rely on. Long-term working relationships are important, and our clients appreciate knowing we’re only a phone call away 24/7.

I am very methodical; I plan for everything and always have a ‘Plan B’ in place.

During Covid, I became very vocal about the struggles the coach transport industry was going through to survive through the pandemic. I was on Morning Ireland, Six One new, Newstalk, Claire Byrne and Joe Duffy’s LIveline lots of times.

I won the Fleet Bus & Coach Awards 2024 Service to the Public Transport Industry award, that was a huge honour and surprise!

I sit on the Executive Council of the CTTC, the Coach Tourism & Transport Council of Ireland. This is an incredibly rewarding position within the transport industry. The CTTC has strategically lobbied government departments successfully over the last 5 year creating massive industry improvements for all coach transport operators in Ireland. For years, I was the only woman on the EC but thrilled this year to be joined by two other women. I am proud to say that it’s an industry that I have never felt any sort of discrimination as a woman, in fact I have experienced nothing but encouragement & courtesy from my male industry colleagues over the years.

Be positive, be methodical and be passionate about your career.

Group Operations Director at Pierce Kavanagh Coaches.