Louise McKeever is Chief Information Officer at the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine (DAFM). With extensive experience in helping implement large-scale transformational change and having cultivated over 25 years of experience working across ICT, Louise has an in-dept understanding of business leadership and change management.

As CIO Louise is responsible for the Information Management and Technology (IMT) Group of Divisions that deliver ICT services as part of the Corporate Development function of the Department. In her capacity as CIO, she sets priorities and direction across all areas of ICT within DAFM, is a successful change leader and has a diverse background building and leading high performing teams.

Louise has a degree in Business Administration and a master’s in Business Administration, Information Technology, from University College Dublin (UCD). Louise completed a Professional Diploma in Executive Coaching in the Irish Management Institute, awarded, and accredited by University College Cork (UCC)in 2023. In her personal time, Louise likes to travel and is a keen hiker. Louise is a member of the South Dublin Community volunteers and is working closely with the Friends of the Elderly Ireland.

Cybersecurity executive with over 20 years of international experience in implementing security programs focused on resilience and compliance. Experienced in aligning cybersecurity strategy with business growth, regulatory standards (ISO27001, IEC 62443), and digital transformation for IT, OT, and cloud environments. Regular industry speaker, adept at leading cross-functional teams to establish comprehensive security measures and promote continuous improvement. Passionate about innovation, Zero Trust architecture, and equipping organisations to face AI-driven threats and future-ready cyber resilience.

Niamh is an award-winning Information security thought leader and Guinness World Record Holder for Cybersecurity Awareness. Niamh’s career journey is featured in the Amazon Prime documentary titled – “The Women in Security Documentary”. Over her 25 years of experience and dedication to the industry she has become globally recognised as a well established and experienced Chief Trust & Security Officer.

Niamh has been both CISO and DPO and leading all things Cyber, Privacy and Compliance related for fast-paced growing global organizations which has set her up for her current role today as AI Risk Director for one of the largest globally recognised US investment banks in the world.

Working to support the fight against cybercrime and seeing the impacts cyber security attacks, incidents and breaches have on individuals, organizations and businesses, Niamh qualified as a professional coach in 2023. Niamh wants to continue to collaborate with individuals, teams, and businesses – coaching them to make informed risk-based decisions to support their businesses moving forward and becoming a trust brand differentiator.

Holding true to her value that people are at the core to leading any successful program in the Trust and Security industry she started her own company titled ‘Security Stronger”.

Niamh continues to mentor and coach security professionals in her spare time as well as giving back to the industry locally in Ireland and around the globe. She continues to work with (ISC)2 on their Scholarship review panels. Niamh’s recent interview on Ireland AM for International Women’s Day was classified as viewers as “powerful appearance that highlighted an exceptional role model”. The industry is lucky to have niamh an advocate and ambassador for cybersecurity and cybersecurity within Ireland.

Mark Cliffe is a senior engineering leader with over 25 years of experience delivering scalable, high-performance software in regulated, data-sensitive industries. As Chief Engineer at Fintua, he leads the modernisation of enterprise platforms to enable international growth. Mark has a proven track record in building systems that support high-volume transactions with near-limitless scalability. He combines deep technical expertise with a strategic mindset, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to deliver secure, reliable, and future-ready solutions. Known for developing high-performing global teams, Mark ensures strong governance, continuous innovation, and alignment between technology and business success.

Nessa Kavanagh is a highly experienced technology leader with over 25 years working in IT, including more than 19 years in financial services. She has led major transformation programmes and enterprise architecture initiatives across complex, multinational organisations, consistently delivering strategic outcomes in highly regulated environments. Her cross-functional leadership spans business and technology domains, and she has successfully managed geographically dispersed teams in countries outside Ireland, bringing a global perspective and inclusive approach to collaboration.

In addition to her extensive professional experience, Nessa holds multiple industry certifications in information security, information risk management, and IT architecture, reflecting her commitment to continuous learning and professional excellence. Nessa’s blend of deep sector knowledge, international leadership experience, and technical expertise positions her as a trusted advisor and change leader in the evolving world of enterprise technology.

With over 25 years of experience on the front lines of Cybersecurity, I currently serve as the Director of Cyber Security at Virgin Media Ireland, where I orchestrate the strategic resilience of critical telecommunications infrastructure. My career is defined by a successful transition from deep, hands-on technical mastery to high-complexity executive leadership.

Throughout more than two decades, I have designed and managed high-availability environments across vital sectors, including Oil & Gas, Energy, Telecommunications, Aviation, and Consultancy. Today, my focus lies in strengthening corporate governance, aligning security with business objectives, and ensuring compliance with rigorous frameworks such as NIS 2, the ISO 27000 family, and GDPR.

Today I am providing end-to-end strategic leadership for the cybersecurity posture of one of Ireland’s largest telecommunications organizations:
• Governance & Compliance: Orchestrating the strategic roadmap for NIS 2 directive readiness and maturing risk management frameworks in full alignment with ISO 27001 and global best practices.
• Cyber Resilience & Operations: Commanding high-performance teams in mitigating real-world security threats and spearheading the large-scale modernization of data protection and critical infrastructure.
• Executive Stakeholder Management: Serving as the primary interface with the Board of Directors to report on risk posture, securing strategic buy-in, and ensuring security investments are synchronized with the company’s commercial growth and long-term objectives.

My core areas of expertise include:
• Strategic Leadership: Managing large-scale security operations, developing robust policies, and leading multidisciplinary teams across multicultural environments (Europe, Africa and Bra).
• Risk Management & Governance: Deep expertise in risk frameworks, auditing, and the implementation of controls that ensure business continuity under high-pressure scenarios.
• Technical Authority (SME): A solid track record in network architecture, penetration testing, infrastructure security, Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) management (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Checkpoint, Cisco) and Security Frameworks.

I believe that security is not merely a technical barrier, but a fundamental pillar of business trust and a competitive advantage for any organization. I am committed to operational excellence and the constant evolution of cyber defences within a rapidly shifting threat landscape.

Liz Conroy is a seasoned technology and transformation leader with extensive experience at Vodafone Ireland, where they have played a key role in shaping large scale digital, data, and operational initiatives.

Experienced telecommunications and digital transformation professional with a proven track record at Vodafone Ireland, where I have led high impact initiatives across technology, operations, and customer focused programmes. Throughout her career, she has been recognised for driving innovation, improving operational efficiency, and delivering measurable business value in a fast paced, highly regulated industry.

At Vodafone Ireland, Liz have contributed to major transformation efforts spanning IT & Billing modernisation, data and analytics strategy, and enterprise level process optimisation. Known for her ability to translate complex technical challenges into clear business outcomes, build strong cross functional relationships, and lead teams through change with clarity and purpose.

Liz’s work has consistently focused on enhancing customer experience, enabling data driven decision making, and supporting Vodafone’s commitment to digital leadership in the Irish market. I bring a collaborative mindset, a passion for continuous improvement, and a strong commitment to delivering results that align with strategic priorities.

I thrive in environments where technology, people, and business strategy intersect — and I am motivated by opportunities to shape meaningful, scalable, and future ready solutions.

Michael McNamara is a senior cybersecurity leader with over 15 years of experience shaping enterprise-wide security, compliance, and risk management strategies across the telecoms, software, and shared services sectors. He is a trusted advisor to executive leadership and government stakeholders, contributing actively to national and European cybersecurity initiatives.

Michael previously served as Chair of the National Cyber Security Centre’s DigiCore Working Group and Co Lead of the CyberIreland CISO Forum, helping influence policy, industry collaboration, and best practice adoption across Ireland’s cybersecurity ecosystem.

He currently serves as Group Head of Security & Compliance at Speed Fibre Group, where he leads the organisation’s cybersecurity, risk, and regulatory compliance strategy across a multi entity digital infrastructure portfolio.

John is responsible for Global Product Engineering at Jaguar Land Rover. John oversees JLR Global Product Engineering footprint transformation, working in partnership with current global sites and respective location leads across USA, Ireland, Hungary, India and China. John also has teams based in the UK responsible for Central Business Office and Product Engineering Resource Planning, as well as Export Control and Sanctions. John was previously General Manager of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Vehicle Engineering locations in both Ireland and the United States. John originally helped JLR setup its world class software engineering operation in Shannon back in 2017. The teams play an important role in realising JLR’s vision around Electric Vehicles and Automated Driving via Connected Services, Data and Software. John began his career as a software engineer at technology start-up Piercom and then moved to US communications multi-national Tellabs. He then spent 15 years at Intel in a variety of technical and business roles, the most recent being Director of Automotive Business Development. John is a graduate of the University of Limerick and obtained a BSc in Applied Mathematics and Computer Engineering.

David joins us as Director of Cybersecurity and IT Audit having served over 7 years in professional services with Deloitte Ireland and BH Consulting.
He brings over 35 years’ experience in cybersecurity, IT and risk management and has worked as a CISO for DEPFA Bank, and in senior cyber and risk roles at Ulster Bank and AIB. Earlier in his career he worked for IBM in Ireland and the UK, and for Guinness / Diageo and has had previous security and IT roles in manufacturing, healthcare and local government.
David is originally from the north-east of England but is now happily settled in County Laois in Ireland.

Services & Specialism
David brings a wealth of knowledge having developed security policy and assurance frameworks and delivered engaging and interactive cyber and privacy-related training and scenario exercises to global and local (Irish) clients, conducted security reviews and audits and developed cyber incident response and business continuity strategies for clients, from SMEs to multi-nationals and across many industries. He has supported clients in their programs to achieve and maintain ISO27001 certification, some from scratch.
He has considerable experience delivering organisational change whilst maintaining a collaborative working relationship with stakeholders to champion security priorities and objectives. He has first-hand experience of managing and supporting cyber security-related incidents, and establishing post-incident operational controls, protocols and processes.
David holds a number of cyber-related certifications:
Certified CISO, GIAC GSEC, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, COBIT Foundation Certificate, CISSP, CISM, CISMP, and ITIL foundation certificate in IT Service Management.

Leon Weavers is a senior technology leader with over 20 years of experience driving enterprise IT strategy and transformation. A specialist in cloud and SaaS optimisation, he focuses on maximising business value across complex technology estates. His current work centres on applying generative and agentic AI to automate operations, improve scalability, and reduce costs and technical debt.

Marcelo Flores Manrique is a veteran AVP Architect and Staff Software Engineer with nearly two decades of experience designing high-performance distributed systems. From architecting the processing engines for the Brazilian National Census to building HPC scheduling systems handling millions of daily jobs, Marcelo has specialized in the “engineering of scale.” A former QCon speaker, his career spans leadership roles in Fintech, IoT and e-commerce, with a deep focus on AWS cloud-native architectures. Today, he is at the forefront of the “New SDLC,” leveraging multi-agent AI methodologies to manage architectural integrity and software quality

Rocia Fernandes is Vice President of Cloud Security Engineering at State Street, where she leads initiatives to strengthen cloud security through a strong foundation in Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC). With a Master’s degree from National College of Ireland, she combines academic expertise with practical leadership to ensure regulatory alignment and robust security frameworks across cloud environments.
Rocia brings extensive experience in cyber security, cloud technologies, and security engineering, previously holding roles at Unum and JPMorgan Chase. Throughout her career, she has focused on protecting critical data infrastructure and enhancing organizational resilience against emerging cyber threats. She is known for her strategic leadership and commitment to safeguarding client assets, driving teams to build secure, compliant, and resilient cloud ecosystems in an increasingly complex digital landscape.