man sitting in hotel

Although we all aspire to get a co-op  education placement in specific areas, the most important element to realise about the co-op programme is that regardless of your specific job, you learn about dealing with people, dealing with deadlines and working in group scenarios and the benefit of these can never be underestimated. 

What course did you study in UL, what has your career looked like to date?  

I studied at NIHE from 1982 to 1986, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business Studies with a specialisation in Finance. My career began at Price Waterhouse in New York, where I worked from 1986 to 1993. In 1993, I joined the Flynn Hotel Group and have been with them ever since. My roles within the group have included managing The Park Hotel in Dungarvan from 1993 to 1995, acquiring the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis in 1995, the Imperial Hotel in Cork in 1999, and the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny in 2008.

Tell us a bit about your co-op placement, what organisation did you work with and what year it took place? 

My first co-op placement was from January to August 1984 at Bord Bainne, The Irish Dairy Board in Dublin, where I worked as a Foreign Exchange Assistant. My responsibilities included preparing the daily foreign exchange rates schedule. My second placement was from June to December 1985 at Price Waterhouse in New York, where I served as an Internal Accounts Administrator, focusing on receivable and debtors analysis and daily sales reports.

What impact did your co-op placement have on your future career? 

Without a doubt, both placements gave an insight into working in a structured environment and gave me great experience in learning how to deal with people, how to deal with deadlines, and how to deal with work environments.  For each of these elements, this would have been a first for all co-op students and in retrospect, I would see these as important as gaining the academic qualifications as well.

What piece of advice would you give to students going on co-op now? 

Although we all aspire to get a co-op education placement in specific areas, the most important element to realise about the co-op programme is that regardless of your specific job, you learn about dealing with people, dealing with deadlines and working in group scenarios and the benefit of these can never be underestimated. Each of these is the foundation of how you deal with your professional life