Redmond O’Donoghue

Redmond O'Donoghue is as near to being a Waterford man as you can get without actually being born there. As it happens, he was born in Cork but his bank manager father quickly moved down the coast to Waterford.The family lived ``over the shop'' and O'Donoghue tells how he trotted through the branch each day en route to Waterpark, the city's rugby-playing school.How proficient he was at the game is not known, but a passion and recognised skill at tennis was handed down from his mother, Mickie, who once took on her sister in the final of the Irish Open at Fitzwilliam.Indeed, it was through tennis that he met his wife Anthea, who went on to represent Ireland at all levels of the game. On leaving school, O'Donoghue went to UCD and studied for a B Comm. Bank managers' sons had a habit in those days of following in their fathers' footsteps. Luckily, O'Donoghue had a bit of pull with Harrington Goodlass Wall, the Cork paint maker, and entered its sales department.In 1968, he joined Ford in Cork and spent 18 years with the motor company, moving to Bristol before becoming marketing director of Ford in Spain, a huge car market.in 1985 He moved back home joining Waterford Crystal (or Waterford Glass as it was then known) at the behest of Paddy Hayes, his former boss at Ford in Cork, who had only recently moved to the company as executive chairman.Given some of the challenges the company had been facing l, O'Donoghue said he saw Dr O'Reilly's involvement as ``the critical turning point''. It was the lifeline which allowed the executives to concentrate on developing what was one of Ireland's very few brands. More recently as Chairman of the Board of Management at Newtown School, he has overseen its strategic planning and business development. He had also Chairman at the Confederation of Golf in Ireland for over a decade.Redmond has held senior roles at esteemed institutions, including Good Food Ireland, Failte Ireland, IBEC, Waterford Institute of Technology, Greencore, Waterford Wedgwood Plc, The Marketing Institute, and Ford Motor Company His academic background is rooted in business marketing, with degrees from Harvard Business School and University College Dublin.Being a native of Ireland, he holds a deep understanding of the local market and economyCourtesy of the Irish Examiner Aran Island Discs is an Irish themed podcast hosted by Rossa McDermottEach episode features a guest who is invited to imagine themselves on the Aran Islands—a symbolic place evoking rugged beauty and Irish cultural heritage—and explore the soundtrack of their life. Guests choose songs that have shaped their personal journeys, sparking conversations about key moments, memories, and influences in their life.edited by Peter Rice, and distributed via platforms Acast, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. .Sponsorship [email protected]“Feels like sitting in on a real conversation”#AranIslandDiscs #IrishPodcast #PodcastIreland #IrishStories #MusicAndMemory #LongFormPodcast#IrishCulture#PodcastLife  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.