Lorcan O’Connor, CEO Transport Infrastructure Ireland

Insolvency wasn’t something I was familiar with when I joined Deloitte, which is why I never could have imagined that years later, during Ireland’s financial crash, the Irish Government would task me with setting up the Insolvency Service of Ireland.

Originally, I planned to become a solicitor after studying Business & Legal studies in UCD, but I decided to apply to accountancy firms for interview practice. Deloitte spotted my law background, and they steered me towards insolvency. It’s an entry route to the accountancy profession that I would recommend to anyone – you get exposed to a multitude of sectors  and are dealing with problems and decisions of real consequence quickly so you are forced to learn fast!

Bonds that last

When I joined Deloitte with 30 other colleagues, we were sent on a two-week induction training course in Crete, Greece with Deloitte trainees from around the world. At 22 years old, it was an incredible way to bond with the people I had met.

My advice is simple: the bigger your network, the better it will be for your career. One of the biggest benefits that still stands to me from working in Deloitte was the network I built. Not only a business network, but also the friends I made that I am still in regular contact with. In fact, I even met my wife during my time with Deloitte!

Better to fail than to not take the opportunity

I took every opportunity presented to me while in Deloitte. This included a secondment opportunity as Financial Adviser in the Department of Transport to assist in the privatisation of Aer Lingus. I knew it would be a fantastic opportunity to work within Government and that it would help me distinguish myself in my career. That specialised experience proved invaluable, leading me to jump at the opportunity in 2012 when the Government were looking for someone to establish the new Insolvency Service of Ireland.

Its establishment was a condition of the TROIKA bailout with a goal to modernise personal insolvency in Ireland and help address the mortgage arrears crisis.

It’s a thread I’ve seen from those interviewed throughout the Deloitte Alumni series, the conflict between the mindset of a job-for-life versus taking a leap of faith. I saw the opportunity ahead of me, but I also knew that the publicity around setting up the Insolvency Service meant that if I failed, it would have a detrimental impact on my career going forward.

Moving at breakneck speed

We were under huge political and public pressure to open as soon as possible but there were several things that had to happen before we could do that, including hiring staff, finding an office and introducing a new regulatory regime for a brand new profession.

Moving at speed has characterised a lot of my career – whether it was deciding whether to trade a business while insolvent, setting up the Insolvency Service, or responding to Covid-19 at CIÉ – whether that be keeping our staff and passengers safe or how to respond to a 90% fall in revenue in the space of a fortnight.

Purpose drives performance

When I was setting up the Insolvency Service of Ireland, my team and I barely had a chance to pause for breath. I reminded my team from time to time of the real impact we were having; that we were helping people under enormous financial pressure due to the financial crash. The opportunity to offer people a second chance through debt restructuring kept our busy team highly engaged and motivated.

Receiving thank you letters from people who had used our service still remains my proudest moment.

I carried this same sense of purpose into my role as CEO of the CIÉ Group. I introduced a Group wide Sustainability Strategy which identified a path to net zero and a transition to zero emission vehicles. It also sought to help address wider challenges Ireland faced at the time including support for Green Hydrogen, Offshore wind and affordable housing. There are easier jobs than working in transport, I have to say, but I was so proud going to my office each day in Heuston Station and seeing people heading to and from their destinations and knowing I played a small part in that.

The value of mentorship

Since 2012, I’ve benefited from having various mentors. I’ve always found it incredibly useful – my mentors have helped me look at things differently and given me confidence when I needed it – it is invaluable for personal growth and resilience.

I loved my time in CIE, but I was on a fixed-term contract so I knew I would have to move on. The opportunity to be CEO of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) comes at a really exciting time for the organisation. The National Development Plan envisages unprecedented capital investment in transport over the coming years. Combined with the implementation of recent recommendations from the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce, this means we have a real opportunity to finally address Ireland’s infrastructure deficit and TII will not be found wanting.

As CEO of TII, I look forward to a ‘decade of delivery’ - further enhancements to our road network, a Metro for Dublin, new Luas trams in Dublin, Cork and beyond and a new national cycle network to name just a few!