Judges

To ensure a rigorous judging process, we select a number of experienced leaders and experts from a range of Irish business sectors to make up our independent judging panel.

Bobby Kerr

Entrepreneur, broadcaster, and former ‘dragon’

Bobby is an experienced entrepreneur and former co-owner and Chairman/CEO of Insomnia Coffee Company, Ireland’s largest independent coffee chain,

Bobby is currently a presenter on “Down to Business” the popular Newstalk radio business show on Saturdays. He also co-hosts an SME slot called #bobbymeansbiz on The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk.

Bobby’s business interests are in a variety of sectors including food and hospitality, technology, hardware and exhibition.

Bobby was was one of the original Dragons on Dragon’s Den for the first four years of the series. Although he has left the series to look at other opportunities, he continues to be actively involved with the nine investments he made during the series. Bobby is also a popular business, entrepreneurial and motivational speaker.

Bobby is also a keen sailor and runner. He lives with his wife Mary and their four daughters by the sea in Sandycove, County Dublin.

Shane Lynn PhD

CEO at EdgeTier

Dr. Shane Lynn is an entrepreneur in Dublin with a background in machine learning research and artificial intelligence. Shane's current company, EdgeTier, specialises in the development of AI-powered tools for customer service teams. Shane has vast experience in telecommunications plans and pricing strategies, having previously developed consumer comparison services and pricing simulation tools for the industry.

Maeve Harrington

Marketeer, project manager and founder of In and Out Marketing & Project Management

With almost 30 years’ experience gained in the life assurance, energy, advertising, telecoms, finance, FMCG and market research industries, Maeve is an experienced marketeer and project manager.

Having worked as a marketing executive, marketing manager, director, and project manager, Maeve is now founder and owner of In and Out Marketing & Project Management, where she uses her wealth of experience to help businesses with projects big and small through a practical and hands-on approach.

Gerry Hiney

Managing Director Park Financial Planning / SwitchMyMortgage.ie

Gerry is Managing Director of Park Financial Planning and SwitchMyMortgage.ie, who are specialist mortgage brokers based in Dublin. Gerry is a Qualified Financial Advisor and has over 30 years’ experience in the mortgage business. Gerry’s companies deal with all the major lenders operating in the Irish mortgage market.

Gerry is a member of AIMA (Association of Irish Mortgage Advisors) and Brokers Ireland.

Bladhana Richardson

Head Of Marketing Travelopia

Bladhana is an experienced brand manager and marketer with over two decades of experience in the sector in both the UK and Ireland.

Having worked for several years as Advertising and Brand Manager at Sainsbury's Bank, Bladhana is currently Head of Marketing with Travelopia, one of the world’s leading experiential travel businesses.

Bart Lehane

CTO of EdgeTier

Bart Lehane is the CTO of EdgeTier, a company which helps customer service teams double their efficiency using a mix of artificial intelligence and automation. Bart has over 15 years of experience in the technology sector. Prior to founding EdgeTier, Bart worked in Openet Telecom where he helped deliver software systems into some of the largest mobile providers in the world.

Eimear Christian

Head of Sustainability and Innovation, Irish Water

Eimear is responsible for developing and implementing the strategy to ensure Irish Water meets its environmental and social commitments. Prior to her current role, Eimear was Director of Client Sustainability projects with Clearstream Solutions and also has over 16 years’ experience across energy and financial services sectors, providing a deep understanding of energy tariffs and financial services products.

Joan Mulvihill

Digitalisation Lead for Siemens in Ireland

Digitalisation Lead for Siemens in Ireland Joan Mulvihill, continues to be at the forefront of driving technology adoption in Ireland. Having held the position of CEO of IIA for seven years, and two years as Centre Director for the Irish Centre for Cloud Computing, her role at Siemens builds on Siemens’ and her deep commitment to and understanding of the needs of Irish business to create value for their customers, sustainably.

Sarah Irwin

Head of Legal at Tines

Sarah is Head of Legal at Tines, the Irish cybersecurity no-code automation start up helping companies deal with fast-evolving security challenges in a scalable way. Sarah is also Founder and Chair of Irish Tech General Counsel, an independent community which she set up to enable innovative in-house legal professionals in Ireland to connect and share knowledge within an inclusive, supportive environment, and to prevent members from becoming isolated in their working lives.

Sarah has 13 years’ legal experience across two jurisdictions, having first trained as a barrister in London and later cross-qualifying as a corporate/technology solicitor in Ireland. Sarah ultimately pivoted from Maples Group to into in-house practice and in 2022 was included in the Legal500 GC Powerlist: Ireland.