Our Team

  • Lucinda Creighton
    CEO

    Lucinda Creighton is CEO of Vulcan Consulting Ltd and is a former Irish Minister for European Affairs and Member of the Irish Parliament. As Minister for European Affairs she represented Ireland in key negotiations on Ireland’s EU/IMF bailout, leading to a reduction in interest rates and the extension of Ireland’s repayment schedules. As CEO of Vulcan Consulting, she works closely with CEOs and senior management teams to assist them in understanding and navigating the political, policy and decision-making environment in Europe, Ireland and across the E.U. She has an extensive network across Europe having also previously served as Vice President of the European People’s Party (EPP).

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  • Paul Bradford
    Chairman

    Paul Bradford is Chairman of Vulcan Consulting and leads our stakeholder engagement service for clients in Dublin. Paul was a long-serving member of both the Upper and Lower Houses of the Irish Parliament (Senate and Dáil). Paul represented the East Cork both at national level, and at local county council level. He served as Chairman of the British Irish Inter-parliamentary group in the run up to the signing of the historic Good Friday Agreement. Paul also represented the Irish Parliament on the Council of Europe. He was Opposition Chief Whip for the Fine Gael party under the leadership of Michael Noonan, the recently retired Irish Finance minister. Paul served as Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, and was a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and the Marine.

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  • Elizabeth Krahulecz
    Head of Brussels Office

    Elizabeth Krahulecz is the Head of the Brussels Office at Vulcan Consulting. A former diplomat, Elizabeth is well known for her extensive network of relationships across high levels of government, EU institutions, politics, business and non-profits. She works with clients to advance their objectives by providing strategic advice and connections needed to position their issues for success. Her diverse experience provides a unique viewpoint that cuts to the core of legislative and political issues.

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  • Ann Kelly
    Special Advisor

    Ann has built up a wealth of experience in the field of public affairs consultancy, having previously worked with the European Commission in Brussels in the area of SMEs and in Dublin on industrial relations policy and social partnership. She has extensive experience working with multinational companies in the areas of food and drink; healthcare; transport; renewable energy and the environment. Ann was Director of Understanding Europe, a company providing EU training for professionals and lectured in Communications at Dublin City University, Ireland. Ann holds a postgraduate degree in European Affairs from the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium and in Sustainable Development Policy from Blekinge Institute, Sweden.

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  • Ian Fahey
    Senior Account Manager

    Ian works a Senior Account Manager in our Irish Office. He joined Vulcan Consulting following a six-year career within both the Irish and European Parliaments. He was appointed as one of the youngest Special Advisors to the Government in the history of the State – as an advisor to the Attorney General of Ireland. He previously worked as a Parliamentary Assistant for a Minister of State and for a Member of the European Parliament. A Business & Law Graduate of University College Dublin, he has an extensive understanding of the Irish legislative system – as well as the Irish policy landscape across a variety of sectors.

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  • Pascal Koenig
    Senior Account Manager

    Pascal is a Senior Account Manager at Vulcan Consulting where he works on Financial Services, FinTech and Technology policy. He also manages our energy and environment portfolio in Brussels. Pascal has gained extensive experience in advising companies in navigating the Irish and European Public Affairs landscape. Prior to joining Vulcan Consulting, Pascal managed the Public Affairs and Communications for the Irish Exporters Association where he was responsible for all policy and government relations aspects, oversaw the online payments and digital innovations practice of Ecommerce Europe, and separately also worked on a broad range of EU energy, environment and sustainability issues.

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  • Muireann Geary
    Senior Account Executive

    Muireann works as a Senior Account Executive in our Brussels office, supporting clients across the pharmaceutical, technology and financial services sectors. She has previously worked as a Trainee in the office of an MEP in the European Parliament where she worked mainly on European humanitarian and development policy.

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  • Emma Buchholt
    Account Executive

    Emma works as an Account Executive in our Brussels Office and supports clients across the security, defence and digital sectors. She has previously worked as a Trainee at the European Commission's Directorate-General of Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) where she was an integral part of the policy team responsible for countering and preventing terrorist and violent extremist content online.

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  • Robert O'Donnell
    Account Executive

    Robert is an Account Executive with Vulcan Consulting and supports the Dublin team in providing strategic advice to clients across a number of sectors on government affairs He particularly supports Vulcan’s financial services and pharmaceutical/healthcare clients. Robert has a deep understanding of the geopolitical and regulatory challenges affecting businesses today from his former position as a temporary attaché at the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the OECD & UNESCO and his prior career in financial services consulting and banking.

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  • Daniel O'Dowd
    Account Executive

    Daniel is an Account Executive in the Dublin Office, supporting clients across a number of sectors including housing and transport. He has garnered extensive legislative and policy experience, having previously served as a Parliamentary Advisor in the Irish Parliament and having acted as a political advisor to both local and national election campaigns in the Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland.

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  • Josh Byrne
    Graduate Trainee

    Josh is a Graduate Trainee working as part of the Dublin team. He has previously worked on the in-house legal team of a large multinational fintech company based in Ireland. Josh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from University College Dublin and possesses a keen understanding of the Irish legal and legislative systems. During college, Josh contributed to the campus newspaper’s political section, writing primarily about US affairs.

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  • Rory Montgomery
    Special Advisor

    Rory Montgomery was an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 1983 to 2019, also serving on secondment to the Department of the Taoiseach. After a range of initial assignments at home and abroad, he was part of the team which negotiated the Good Friday Agreement. He subsequently worked on the negotiation and ratification of the Nice and Lisbon Treaties, and was the Department’s Political Director from 2005-09.

    He served as Irish Permanent Representative to the European Union from 2009-13, a period dominated by the euro crisis. In 2013 he led the Brussels end of the successful Irish EU Presidency, during which he chaired the committee of EU Ambassadors (Coreper)...

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  • Brian Purcell
    Special Advisor - Communications

    Brian is a communications and media relations specialist that has proven skill in devising and implementing bespoke and strategic communications services across a diverse range of industries and sectors. He works closely with and counsels CEOs and their C-suite teams to lead and drive strategic communications plans and has earned a strong reputation in precisely planning and implementing corporate, public affairs, public information, stakeholder targeting, media relations, crisis management, trade and consumer communication programmes that support client objectives.

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  • Avril Doyle
    Special Advisor

    Avril Doyle has over 35 years of experience as an elected public representative at local, national and international level. She is a former Mayor of Wexford and at national level served as a member of the Irish Parliament, Senator and Minister in successive Irish governments. Avril spent 10 years as an MEP in the EPP group as Leader of the Irish Delegation. A highly influential and reputable MEP, she served as a member of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs Committee; a member of the Agriculture and Food Committee and a member of the Industry Research and Energy Committee. She is a member of the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA), The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) and an associate member of the British Veterinary Association.

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  • William Echikson
    Special Advisor

    Bill is an experienced Brussels-based digital policy specialist and previously worked for six and a half years at Google running their corporate communications for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Mr. Echikson began his career as a foreign correspondent in Europe for a series of US publications including the Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, Fortune and BusinessWeek. From 2001 until 2007, he served as Brussels Bureau Chief for Dow Jones. He is a leading Brussels-based expert on digital policy and serves as Associate Senior Fellow and Director of the Digital Forum at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels.

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  • Robert O'Reilly
    Strategic Counsel

    Robert is the Strategic Counsel at Vulcan Consulting. He is a legal and public affairs specialist with over 10 years’ experience. Robert joined Vulcan Consulting from Cicero Group where he was Director of the firm’s Dublin office and advised a number of the world’s largest banks, insurance firms and asset managers on Brexit, UK – Irish relations and Irish – EU engagement. Robert’s recent experience includes 3 years as a business, political-economy and trade policy advisor in the British Embassy Dublin. He is a practicing barrister specialising in commercial law and has previously gained significant experience as a legal and regulatory consultant to US multinationals establishing EU operations in Ireland. 

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  • Michael D’Arcy
    Special Advisor

    Michael has been involved in public affairs, regulatory and policy research for almost four decades and brings a wealth experience to clients. His EU and global roles have included Public Affairs Director for International Express Carriers Conference, a member of committees Task Forces and user groups, and presenter, chair and facilitator of conferences, seminars and lectures. Michael has written extensively including: a seminal book on the cross-border business dimension of the Irish Peace Process; EU economic and enterprise policy; Transport & Ports; Telecommunications; Trade Facilitation and E-business.

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  • Catherine Bent
    Special Advisor

    Catherine is a Chartered Director with Non-Executive Directorships and since 2003 has been the Owner CB Consultancy, a Business Strategy, Marketing & Corporate Affairs firm with a client list of Irish & multinational companies. Previously Catherine was the Marketing, Corporate Affairs & Management Team Director at Mars Ireland and has wide experience of Ireland’s FMCG/Food & Beverage Industries. Catherine has lectured in the Irish Management Institute, Dublin City University, the Dublin Institute of Technology and mentors in Trinity College and the UCD Smurfit School of Business.

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  • Una O’Dwyer
    Special Advisor

    Una is a Senior Fellow of the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) on whose behalf she regularly delivers training courses on EU decision-making to officials and its Member States. Una is also Vice-President of the Irish think-tank, the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA). She spent 23 years in the SG of the European Commission, responsible for relations with the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in general and the EU decision-making procedures. Prior to that, Una was a diplomat in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs for 16 years from Ireland’s accession to the EEC in 1973 onwards, serving in the directorates for Press Relations and EU Political Cooperation and Multilateral Development Cooperation.

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  • Deirdre Lee
    Executive Office Manager

    Deirdre is the Executive Office Manager at Vulcan Consulting and works very closely with our CEO. Deirdre has considerable experience in negotiating, managing client relationships and project management.  Prior to joining Vulcan Consulting Deirdre has over 10 years’ experience working in the retail sector for BWG Foods as Trading Manager and before that as a Buyer with Superquinn. Deirdre has BA International in Economics and Italian from UCD and a Diploma in Business Studies from NUI Galway.

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