Our People

Niall Murray was appointed Managing Director in November 2015 having led a (MBO) Management Buy Out of Collins McNicholas along with fellow Directors Antoinette O’Flaherty and Michelle Murphy. Niall joined Collins McNicholas in 1998 to establish their Sligo office and was promoted to the position of General Manager in September 2010. Niall is a graduate of Dublin City University Business School, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) and is certified by The British Psychological Society to carry out Levels A and B+ psychometric assessments. Prior to joining Collins McNicholas, Niall spent a number of years working in the recruitment industry in Dublin.

In November 2015 Antoinette was appointed Director following a Management Buy Out of Collins McNicholas with fellow Directors Michelle Murphy and Niall Murray. Antoinette, a native of Sligo, joined Collins McNicholas in November 1998 as a Recruitment Consultant and recruited across IT, Technical & Engineering, Accountancy & Finance and HR/Training. She was promoted to Senior Recruitment Consultant in 2002 and to Regional Manager in 2010. Antoinette has managed a number of executive search assignments for blue chip and middle-market clients in the North West region. She has been a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland since 1999 and has held the role of PRO for the North West branch. Antoinette has a Bachelor of Business (Hons) from IT Sligo.

Michelle was appointed Director in November 2015 having completed a Management Buy Out of Collins McNicholas with fellow Directors Antoinette O’Flaherty and Niall Murray. She commenced working with Collins McNicholas as a Recruitment Consultant in 2000 and worked primarily in the Technical Engineering & Construction divisions. She was promoted to Senior Recruitment Consultant and took responsibility for the busy HR division within the Galway office, and was later promoted to Regional Manager. Michelle has a M.Sc in Strategic Human Resource Management and a National Diploma in Personnel Management from the CIPD. Michelle is a Fellow member of the CIPD and has been heavily involved with the CIPD Western Region in Galway.

Based in the Athlone office, Mary Mullin is the Regional Manager for the Midlands region. A native of Athlone, Mary joined the management team of Collins McNicholas in May 2015. She has over 12 years’ experience recruiting across the Accountancy & Finance, Technical Engineering and HR sectors, and has also managed many recruitment campaigns for national and multinational companies. Mary has a Diploma in HR Management and is CIPD qualified.

Ita Hodder is the Regional Manager in our Dublin Office. Ita joined Collins McNicholas in 2006 after working in London for a number of years. She has extensive experience working with SME’s and Multinational companies across the Accountancy & Finance, Commercial and HR sectors. Ita has an Honours Degree in Social Science from UCD and a post graduate Diploma in Business Studies from the Smurfit Business School. She also holds a law degree from the London Metropolitan University.

Rory Walsh is based in our Cork office and is Regional Manager for the South and South East regions. A native of Cork, Rory joined the management team in May 2016. Rory has over 10 years’ experience in recruitment and managing recruitment teams. He specialises in technical appointments within the Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Industries. Rory holds a degree in Chemistry and is currently specialising in Science and Engineering recruitment across the South and South East.

Emma joined Collins McNicholas as a HR Services Consultant in September 2016 working alongside Caroline Ward, HR Services Manager, in designing and administering bespoke assessment solutions for Collins McNicholas clients. Emma has previous experience working with a psychometric assessment provider for recruitment, selection and development. Emma’s background is in Organisational Psychology with a BA in Psychology from Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and an MSc in Work and Organisational Psychology from the University of Limerick. Emma is also certified by the British Psychological Society for Level A and B Test User Qualifications: Ability and Personality Psychometrics. Currently, Emma is HR Services Manager (Interim) while Caroline is on leave.

A native of Sligo, Fiona joined the Collins McNicholas team in June 2016 having relocated back from the UK. Fiona is a qualified accountant, holds a B.Comm from NUIG and has over 15 years accounting experience, including over 5 years as a Finance Manager working within Multi-National organisations.