Portarlington Enterprise Centre Board of Directors

Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Portarlington Enterprise Centre Ltd., Michael is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with his own well established and successful business, MJ Turley & Associates, based in Portarlington. He has solid experience in building industrial space and was involved in the construction of Enterprise units in Tipperary as well as the Portarlington Enterprise Centre itself.

An active participant in many local community groups, Michael was involved in the redevelopment of both the Portarlington Lawn Tennis Club and the Portarlington Rugby Club, two clubs that can now boast modern playing facilities and club houses.

Mary worked for five years as Community Development Officer for Portarlington and as Manager of the Portarlington Community Centre. In 2008, she took up a post with a local, internationally traded technology company, Custom Software Ltd. Previously, Mary was the secretary and a leading member of the committee of the Portarlington Community Development Association (PCDA). The PCDA was the driving force behind the successful establishment of the Portarlington Enterprise Centre, with Mary being involved from day one.

Mary is currently the treasurer of the Portarlington Community Crèche committee and was instrumental in securing €1.4 million funding from the Department of Justice, Equality, & Law Reform for the construction of this new crèche. Mary also negotiated full staff funding for the crèche for the first three years from the Department. She is a committee member of the FÁS Community Employment Scheme.

A director of Portarlington Enterprise Centre Ltd. and a founding member of Portarlington Community Development Association, Brigid is a retired Public Representative for Portarlington having been an elected member of Offaly County Council in the 1990’s.

Brigid has an excellent track record in the area of voluntary Community Development and has been at the forefront of many of the town’s recent developments, most notably Páirc Spraoi Na hAbhann Children’s Playground, the Portarlington People’s Park, and the River Barrow Walkway. She has given over twenty year’s service to Portarlington Tidy Towns Committee and was instrumental in establishing the After Schools programme for under-privileged local children. A true visionary, Brigid can be credited with originally conceiving the idea for an Enterprise Centre in Portarlington.

Carol is a Development Officer with the Health Service Executive and has specific responsibility for the establishment of Primary Healthcare Teams in Laois & Offaly. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Maths & History and a Higher Diploma in Computer Science. With vast experience in the areas of IT and Training, Carol is now at the forefront of delivering the Primary Healthcare Strategy of the HSE on a regional basis.

Carol has made many successful grant applications for both capital and equipment funding for projects under the auspices of Portarlington Community Development Association. Carol is currently Secretary of Portarlington Enterprise Centre Ltd. and was recently elected as Chairperson of Portarlington Community Development Association.

Ian is Senior Executive Officer with Laois County Council with responsibility for Economic Development. He is a director of Laois TRIP, Abbeyleix Heritage Trust and is secretary of Portlaoise Enterprise Centre Ltd. Ian was the Chairperson of the World Fleadh and Celtic Music Festival for the two year duration of that highly successful event in 2007 and 2008. He is also a member of Laois County Enterprise Board’s Project Evaluation Committee.

Ian obtained an athletic scholarship to Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas from 1988 to 1992 and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics. He recently completed a course in Leadership in Local Government.

Anne is the Chief Executive Officer of Laois Partnership Company which delivers a large number of Social Inclusion and Rural Development Programmes in Co Laois. The company is newly formed from the merger of Laois Leader Rural Development Company, Mountmellick Development Association Social Inclusion Ltd. and Portlaoise Community Action Project Ltd. She was previously the Programme Manager of Laois Leader RDC since 2000.

Anne has a degree in Agricultural Science, specialising in Agricultural Economics and has worked in private industry prior to joining Laois Leader in 1998. She is also a member of the Laois County Development Board, a member of the Board of Trustees of Gurteen Agricultural College, and represents the Laois Partnership Company as a director of Portarlington Enterprise Centre Ltd.

James is a member of Laois County Council, having first been elected in 1991, representing Fine Gael. A director of Portarlington Enterprise Centre Ltd., he is Vice-Chairman of the Laois Heritage Society, Chairman of the Economic and Tourism Special Policy Committee for Laois, a Board member of the Border, Midland & Western (BMW) Regional Assembly, a committee member of the Midlands Regional Authority, and is also a member of the Monitoring Committee of the National Development Plan (NDP).

James comes from a background of entrepreneurship and is semi-retired from his own Import and Distribution Company. He is involved in many community and sporting associations in his native town, Stradbally.

Paul is an independently elected member of Laois County Council for Portarlington since 2004, having previously represented the Progressive Democrats. He had been a primary school teacher in Portarlington for 28 years and has recently retired from that position. He is Managing Director of Mercury Developments, an overseas property development business.

Paul is a voluntary community worker and is involved in many local committees ranging from Community Games to various charities. As a County Councillor, Paul is on the Vocational Education Committee for Laois, the Enterprise Committee, the Special Policy Committee, and the Traveller Housing Committee.