About Padraic
Padraic has been Chairman of the Collins McNicholas Group since 1998. He is Chairman of a range of SME companies and chairs the Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund managed by Kernel Capital. Padraic is Chairman of the Louth Economic Forum which is a pioneering local authority initiative bringing together representatives of the business community, State agencies, DKIT and local authority management to advance economic development and job creation in the county and surrounding areas. Padraic was Managing Director of the Industrial Development Authority of Ireland (IDA Ireland) in the decade to June 1990 when Ireland endured and then emerged from the last prolonged recession. During his tenure, IDA negotiated the initial location in Ireland of some of today’s leading multinationals such as Microsoft, IBM Software and Intel. He was the inaugural Chairman of the Railway Procurement Agency [2002-2007] which was responsible for the construction, launch and initiation of the LUAS light rail services in Dublin. He is a native of Kinlough, County Leitrim, and is married to Senator Mary White, co-founder of Lir Chocolates Ltd.
