About Us - Board Members

Mike is a dairy farmer, working in partnership with his son.

Together they operate a grass based spring calving herd. He has a keen interest in the continued development of the Irish agricultural industry and has shown this through his involvement with in many organisations.

He has served on several Boards including ICBF, ICOS and as Chairman of Lakeland Dairies and IHFA. He was also President of the Irish Grassland Association.

Currently Mike is on the Board of the Agricultural Trust.

Gerard Brickley's career spans almost 30 years working in International Markets with Bord Bia, and formerly CBF, promoting Irish beef and livestock.

Now a full-time farmer, he represents the Pedigree Beef Herd Books on the Board of ICBF.  He is also a board member of the National Co-Op of Farm Relief Services, and Internationally, is a member of the European Simmental Beef Breeds Committee.

In addition, together with his wife, Angela, their Celtic Herd is regarded as one of the top Simmental and Charolais herds in the country. In recent years they have developed a small but select stud of AI bulls, supplying semen to pedigree breeders in Ireland, the UK and into Continental Europe.

The division is responsible for dairy purchases, product quality and sales into the food ingredient sector including Irish Dairy Board ingredient subsidiaries sales in the UK and USA.

Joe grew up on a mixed farm in Swords, North County Dublin. He developed a keen interest in agriculture from the family farm and attended Warrenstown Agricultural College. After Warrenstown College, he worked for two years as a Farm Manager on dairy and beef enterprises in Meath before entering UCD in 1983. On completing a B. Comm. degree in UCD, He joined the Irish Dairy Board in early 1986 where he gained experience in a broad range of disciplines, including purchases, supply chain management, sales, marketing and general management before been appointed Irish Dairy Board Cheese Director in 2004.

In 2006 he was appointed Commercial Director and his current role of Managing Director of Commercial & Ingredients Division in 2008. He maintains a keen interest in farming and in his spare time helps out on the family suckler /sheep farm in Swords, North County Dublin.

John O'Sullivan and family run a dairy farm in Whitechurch in Co. Cork.

They milk 240 pedigree Holstein-Friesians in their nationally known Lisduff Herd with a strong emphasis on commercial milk production. LISDUFF MANFRED (LDU) which won the FBD-GENE IRELAND award for the top bull in the 2009 Gene-Ireland programme was bred on the Lisduff Farm.

John has been very active over the years in the Irish Holstein Friesian Association and is a recent past Chairman. He is the current Chairman of ICBF and is the President of the Cork Holstein Friesian Breeders Club.

He is also a regional committee member of Dairygold Co-Op and a member of its general committee.

Dr. Michael Doherty is Professor of Veterinary Clinical Studies in the School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin.

A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, his background is in cattle practice in Donegal and at the Farm Animal Unit of the University of Glasgow.

He has managed many clinical research programmes, including studies of herd health in conventional and organic dairy herds and published extensively in clinical aspects of farm animal health.

A past-President and board member of the European College of Bovine Health Management, he is actively involved along with colleagues in the UCD Herd Health Group in the promotion, development and implementation of herd health in Ireland. He is currently Chairperson of the BVD Technical Working Group.

Robin Talbot is a full time farmer based in Ballacolla, Co Laois. He runs an autumn calving suckler herd.

His male weanlings are sold live into the Italian market. The beef heifers are finished off grass at 24 months.

He is a strong advocate of a grass based system of beef production. His focus is on high grass utilization together with a strategic animal health programme which delivers his main objective which is profit.

Robin is a past Council member of the Irish Grassland Association where he was involved with putting together their Beef conferences. He is also involved in his local community.