Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has seconded Marketer of the Year 2010 John Concannon from his development role at NUI Galway to manage the Government’s campaign on the Covid-19 coronavirus public health crisis. Concannon was a central part of the the Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) which was wound down amid some controversy in 2018.
Concannon, who implemented the Government’s crisis communications for the ‘Beast from the East’ and Storm Emma weather event in spring 2018, was assistant secretary general in the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade in the role of director general of Global Ireland, the Government’s plan to double Ireland’s international footprint by 2025.
The Global Ireland campaign also involved a bid to win a seat on the UN Security Council. After moving to NUI Galway, Concannon remained on part-time with the UN Security Council. As Fáilte Ireland’s director of market development, he was voted Marketer of the Year for his staycations strategy, which helped spawn initiatives like the Wild Atlantic Way.
He later worked on The Gathering with Jim Miley, resulting in them being jointly nominated for Marketer of the Year. He headed up the strategy team behind Ireland 2016 – the 1916 Easter Rising commemorations. He then led Creative Ireland, a new Government initiative aimed at giving young people more access to music, drama, art and coding.
He left Creative Ireland and was replaced by Tania Banotti, former CEO at the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI). In his early marketing days, Concannon worked at Dubarry Shoes and helped Unilever with its roll out of the Magnum ice cream brand. He was CEO of Ireland West Tourism which led to his award-winning role at Fáilte Ireland.
He was chairman of Cope Galway and has served on the board of Connacht Rugby.
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