Aileen O’Toole is a former

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, notable as a co-founder of ''

The Sunday Business Post The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland. Founding to Irish financial crisi ...

'', and an online communication consultant.

Life

Early life

From the

Northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vinc ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Aileen O'Toole attended Manor House School in

Raheny Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 CE ( Mervyn Archdall). The district shares Dublin's two largest municipal parks, Saint Anne ...

. After her Leaving Certificate she pursued a diploma in journalism, on what was then the only formal course in that area in Ireland, becoming the first in her family to qualify at third-level.

Career

Journalism

A business journalist, O'Toole was made editor of ''

Business & Finance ''Business & Finance'' (sometimes ''B&F'') is a fortnightly Irish business magazine published by Belenos Publications, that was established by Hugh McLaughlin in September 1964. It provides news and comment, and analysis on Irish and internat ...

'' magazine at the age of 29, the first woman to edit a national business title in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. O'Toole was one of the four co-founders of ''

'' newspaper in 1989, and was both a director and Deputy Editor. She was a shareholder in the business until 1997, when it was sold to Trinity Mirror plc., which yielded a personal payout in excess of 1.1 million pounds. She continued as Deputy Editor for some time thereafter.

Digital marketing and strategy

In 2001, O'Toole co-founded an online communications and marketing consultancy, AMAS Ltd. with Maeve Kneafsey, the former CEO of one of Ireland's most active magazine publishers, Mike Hogan's Hoson Group. After buying out Kneafsey, O'Toole continued AMAS which provides strategic advice to private and public organisations on their online channels. O'Toole has led a series of significant strategy projects for clients such as the

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc ( ga, Banc na hÉireann) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Iris ...

Group and

Diageo Diageo plc () is a Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweich ...

, the

National Consumer Agency The National Consumer Agency (NCA; ga, Gníomhaireacht Náisiúnta Tomhaltoirí) was a statutory body enforcing consumer protection in Ireland from 2007 to 2014, when it amalgamated with the Competition Authority to form the Competition and Co ...

Forfás Forfás () was the national policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation in Ireland. The agency was established in January 1994 under thIndustrial Development Act, 1993and was run by a board appointed by the Mi ...

Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish , meaning "air fleet" compare Welsh 'llynges awyr') is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary ...

and a number of Irish-based multinationals.

Not-for-profit work

O'Toole has served as a director of a number of not-for-profit organisations. She was a member of the board of

Chambers Ireland The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, trading as Chambers Ireland is the federation of chambers of commerce for the Republic of Ireland. It is a member organisation of EUROCHAMBRES. ''InBUSINESS'' magazine ''InBUSINESS'' is the organisation's ...

, the country's largest business network, with 60 affiliated chambers and 13,000 members. She has also been a member of the board of Business in the Community (BITC), which promotes corporate responsibility and corporate community involvement in Ireland. She also served on the board of ASH Ireland, which is focused on reducing the impact of tobacco use in Irish society. O'Toole is, as of 2019, and since 2014, a member of the board of the statutory body, the

Road Safety Authority The Road Safety Authority (RSA; ga, Údarás Um Shábháilteacht Ar Bhóithre) is a state agency formed by the Irish Government to promote road safety within the Republic of Ireland. The agency has devolved control of much of the work of the D ...

of Ireland.

Media

In March 2009, following an appearance on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

's ''Prime Time'' current affairs programme about the state of the Irish economy, she launched the Ideas Campaign. "After Prime Time , people contacted me and agreed that we need to have different conversations about the Irish economy – about looking forward, about recognising positive developments in the economy and about capitalising on our qualities as an economy," she told reporters."New website aims to beat the downturn with bright ideas" - Irish Times newspaper
/ref> "At the very least, we’re hoping that this campaign will start those conversations."

Personal life

O'Toole is married to Padraig, and has three children. In 2012, she tweeted extensively about two episodes of cancer, in 1994 and recently.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otoole, Aileen Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Manor House School, Raheny Irish journalists Irish business executives Living people