The Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII), the professional body for public relations and communications professionals, has appointed Dr Martina Byrne as its new chief executive. Dr Byrne will also serve as chief executive of the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), the representative body in Ireland for PR consultancies.
She has over 15 years’ experience at senior management and board level in the communications profession and 10 years’ experience in research and education. Before being awarded a PhD in TCD in 2014, and later lecturing in both TCD and UCD, she was director of public affairs and a board member of Wilson Hartnell PR (WHPR).
During her career she has worked in-house and in consultancy roles, with international and national clients in the private and public sectors. She served on the PRII national council and the PRCA board and was awarded a fellowship of the PRII (FPRII) in 2004 in recognition of her contribution to the development of the profession.
She has won PRCA and international awards for her work. She has also lectured on the institute’s diploma in PR course and delivered CPD training. In 2015, Dr Byrne was commissioned by the PRII to review and future-proof the diploma’s curriculum and in 2016 was appointed external examiner of the institute’s entire educational output.
Dr Byrne is currently working with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and will take on her new role PRII role at the end of October. She replaces John Carroll who recently took on the role of special advisor/head of policy and programme implementation at the Department of An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD.
