Paralympics Ireland have announced the appointments of Lisa Fallon and Damien O’Neill to the Board of the organisation.

Lisa Fallon took up her position at the beginning of the year and will be using her expertise in high-performance sport as part of her new role.

Damien O’Neill joined the board in September where he will provide his expertise in Commercial, Marketing and Sponsorship areas.

Lisa Fallon has blazed a trail in coaching, and indeed for Women in Sport as she became the first-ever female coach to work in Irish professional football.

Lisa has worked with Cork City FC, Chelsea FC Women, the Northern Ireland men’s national team and the Dublin men’s senior Gaelic Football team.

She has been named in the Sport for Business list of 50 Women of Influence in Irish sport, in partnership with Liberty Insurance, for each of the past two years.

Damien O’Neill is one of the most experienced marketing and sponsorship professionals in the country. He retired as Group Head of Marketing with Allianz Ireland in late 2019, having overseen one of the most successful and long-running sponsorships in the country with the Allianz GAA National Leagues.

He has been one of the strongest advocates for Irish Paralympic Sports and was instrumental in the groundbreaking partnership between Allianz and Paralympics Ireland that has seen athletes like Jason Smyth, Michael McKillop and Ellen Keane receive huge support and promotion throughout the life of the partnership.

O’Neill was also a key driver behind the Sport for Business Social Good initiative with which Allianz has been the key supporter for the last three years.

Fallon and O’Neill have joined the board of Paralympics Ireland along with president, John Fulham, former athletes, Eimear Breathnach & Catherine Walsh and fellow board members Mairead Farquarharson, Lisa Clancy, Brendan Jennings, Tony Dignam and Louise Reilly.

“I am delighted to welcome our new board members,” said Fulham. “They bring with them a wealth of experience in very varied areas of importance and relevance to Paralympics Ireland and I very much look forward to working with them.”

“This year will be a very interesting and exciting year as we look towards the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in August. I am very happy that we have a great range of knowledge and expertise on our board in Paralympics Ireland, especially with the addition of Lisa and Damien, and that we are very well placed to support our athletes through the current global health crisis, to Tokyo and onwards to Paris and Los Angeles.”

 

Sport for Business Partners