The Signium Interview with Danny McCoy

The Signium Interview with Danny McCoy, the 10th annual event hosted by Signium Ireland, in which Partner Jim O'Brien interviews Danny McCoy, CEO of IBEC (Ireland's largest business representative organisation) for the past 17 years to a gathering of Chairs, Non-Executive Directors, CEOs and senior functional leaders. The conversation opens with McCoy's path into economics from his rural Galway upbringing and the teachers and colleagues who shaped him, before turning to the state of the Irish economy and the challenges facing business leaders. McCoy argues that Ireland is far wealthier than its "poor mouth" mindset suggests, and that its cautious budget rules and the unspent National Training Fund are holding back investment. He urges leaders to educate themselves on AI, treating it as "complicated" rather than truly "complex", and warns that the goodwill underpinning Ireland's intangible-asset wealth is eroding. He makes a forceful case for Ireland to take defence and security more seriously, and closes with his ideal dinner guests.