For our second Goss.ie Women of the Year awards, we have once again brought together some of the leading women in business, communications, media and sports to shortlist our fantastic nominees.
These eleven women have grafted their way to the top, perfected their talents and stood out in their chosen industries.
The nominees will be announced on Sunday, September 10th, and the winners of each category, chosen by our judges, will be revealed at the awards ceremony on October 1st.
Meet our 2023 judging panel below:
Derval O’Rourke
Olympian, Author & Founder of Saol App
Derval O’Rourke is a 3 time Olympian, World Champion and founder of online wellbeing platforms Derval.ie and Saol.
Since retiring from professional sport Derval launched her wellbeing platform Derval.ie in 2018 and in 2023 has followed this up with Saol. Derval.ie was created with the vision to help busy women find simple ways to take care of their wellbeing and has had over 15,000 members to date. Saol is a solution for Irish businesses (between 10 and 1000 employees) to support and motivate their colleagues. Saol’s welcoming and supportive community encourages them to become more active, and coaches through online live classes & events, programmes and challenges so that they can transform their lifestyle & wellbeing.
Derval has written two best-selling cookbooks, Food For the Fast Lane and The Fit Foodie. The sports star is also a regular media contributor having roles with RTE as a sports pundit and previously as a coach on Ireland’s Fittest Family.
Derval is a graduate of UCD and Smurfit Business School.
Julie Dilger
Head of External Communications, Google Ireland
Julie joined Google in 2018 to lead external communications for the brand in Ireland. In this role, she is responsible for all external communications strategies and activation.
This involves everything from demonstrating how helpful Google’s products are, and launching its latest hardware products to helping SMEs understand the support offered by the company. She also plays a key role in building and protecting the brand’s reputation in Ireland.
Prior to joining Google, Julie served in a variety of strategic communications roles at Twitter EMEA, where she was responsible for overseeing the public relations activities in over a dozen EMEA markets.
Julie holds a BA in Politics and Classics from University College Dublin and a MA in Public Relations from Technical University Dublin.
Frances Fitzgerald
Member of the European Parliament
Frances Fitzgerald is an MEP for Dublin City and County and a Vice-President of the EPP Group in the European Parliament.
Prior to her election to the European Parliament in 2019, Frances served as a Fine Gael Parliamentarian for over 20 years. She served as a Senator and T.D. in Dublin Mid-West (2007-2019) and has previously served as a Fine Gael T.D. in Dublin South East (1992-2002).
She most recently served as Tánaiste (2016-17), one of only four women to have ever held this position. She has also served as Minister for Business, Enterprise & Innovation (2017); Minister for Justice & Equality (2014-17) and was the State’s first Minister for Children & Youth Affairs (2011-14).
Prior to her election to the Dáil, Frances served as Chair of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (1988-92) and Vice President of the European Women’s Lobby.
Frances was elected to the European Parliament in 2019 as part of the European People’s Party (EPP) Delegation. She is a full member of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM) and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) and a substitute member of the Development Committee (DEVE) and the Committee on Pegasus spyware. Frances also serves as EPP spokesperson for the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee.
Gráinne McElwain
Sports & Entertainment Broadcaster
Gráinne McElwain is a sports and entertainment broadcaster with over 15 years experience working with Sky Sports, TG4, RTÉ, and BBC.
A native of Monaghan, Gráinne is a fluent Irish speaker and is the anchor of GAAGO, the GAA’s new live championship streaming service and was the anchor for Sky Sports GAA championship coverage. Gráinne has presented Peil na mBan Beo, Ladies GAA football on TG4.
She has presented other popular sports programmes on the channel including The Underdogs, GAA Beo, Sacar Beo, Basketball, Badminton, Athletics and Rugbaí Beo. Gráinne recently presented a programme for RTÉ that looked at the GAA and the Civil War Ré Réabhlóide and has presented two series of the popular Scéalta na gCorn series for TG4, that looks at the history behind the GAA silverware.
Other programmes Gráinne has contributed to are The Sunday Game as a reporter and is also a contributor on Today with Claire Byrne Show, Brendán O’Connor and Drivetime, on RTÉ radio, aswell, as Off the Ball on Newstalk radio and Blas on BBC.
Outside of sports, Gráinne is steeped in traditional Irish music having participated in Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann and Scór competitions from an early age reaching and winning All-Ireland medals. She presented Gradaim Ceoil TG4 in 2018, the Oscars of Irish traditional music live from Belfast and has also presented a studio- based entertainment series “Imeall Geal” for the BBC.
Deirdre Carroll
Senior Enterprise Development Executive
Deirdre Carroll is Senior Enterprise Development Lead in Fingal Local Enterprise Office with responsibility for funding small businesses within the Fingal area.
She has worked with businesses in various industries assisting them in the start up and scaling stages. Deirdre’s previous background is in the multinational technology sector as a Senior Executive and draws on this experience to add value to her role with Fingal LEO.
While in the Technology industry she was a member of WIN (Women in IBM Network) and CWIT (Connecting Women in IT) and is now a supporter of the FEWN (Fingal Enterprising Women Network).
Debbie O’Donnell
Founder & Managing Director of Seahorse Media
Debbie O’Donnell is an award winner producer with over 20 years of experience working in
live television and broadcast media; she set up Virgin Media’s Ireland AM in 1999 and also
developed and executive-produced Xposé, their flagship entertainment show for over 10
years.
Debbie designed and developed the concept for this unique and hugely popular TV
show, as well as the digital platform for the brand.
In 2019 she set up her own production company, Seahorse Media, which produced ‘Fearless: Samantha Barry’, a co-production with Reflektor Films for RTE.
She worked with Condé Nast US to film behind the scenes at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards, of one of their biggest annual events.
Seahorse Media also co-produced ‘Donie O’Sullivan: Capitol Man’ for RTE which aired in 2022 and recently launched her new online lifestyle series Love, Style, Repeat.
Muireann O’Connell
Broadcaster & Virgin Media Television Presenter
Limerick broadcaster Muireann O’Connell has had a long, successful media career to date.
The presenter is currently co-hosting Ireland AM on Virgin Media Television alongside Alan Hughes and Tommy Bowe, previously working in radio with shows on Today FM and SPIN.
The Gossies 2023 host often uses her platform to discuss important women’s issues, using her role on Ireland AM to give a voice to women across the nation.
As one of Ireland’s most well-known presenters, Muireann has a wealth of experience in all forms of media.
In 2022 Muireann co-created the popular podcast And Another Thing, alongside comedian Emma Doran.
Alexandra Ryan
Founder & CEO of Goss Media
At the age of 24, and already an award-winning journalist, Alexandra set up Goss.ie, Ireland’s first breaking entertainment news website.
Now nine years in business, Goss.ie has a proven track record of breaking entertainment stories before any other publication and dominating the social media landscape for female-focused publications.
The company has grown in both revenue and staff and continues to expand, including the launch of its first in-house production studio, Goss Studio, and the continuation of bespoke event creation, including The Gossies, Goss Women of the Year and the annual Goss Countdown Show.
Stepping back from the editorial side of the website in 2019, Alexandra now focuses on the commercial aspects of the company, from brand deals to general business development and event management.
As well as running her media company, Alexandra has also completed a law degree at Griffith College, achieving first-class honours in 2023.
In 2021 she became an ambassador for the Department of Justice, heading their ‘#NoExcuses’ campaign and spoke at a national press conference about her experience as a victim of revenge porn, to promote the Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill (Coco’s Law).
Currently, Alexandra is lobbying for more legislative change in Ireland, with a special focus on introducing an online trolling bill.
Gillian Fitzpatrick
Founder & MD of Bolter Media
Gillian Fitzpatrick founded Bolter Media in 2021; an agency that helps start- and scale-ups navigate their advertising journeys with expert, meaningful strategy.
Before Bolter, Gillian was Chief Commercial Officer at Maximum Media, a former Director of Storytelling at Sheology Digital, and a former Features Editor at the Irish Daily Mail. Gillian was Commercial Director at Communicorp prior to the group’s sale to Bauer Media.
Gillian has market-leading knowledge of the media landscape. She has partnered with some of the biggest advertisers in Ireland, bringing their campaign objectives to life with digital-first content that resonates.
Valerie O’Reilly
Founder & MD of Unicorn PR & Communications
In 2003, at 23, Valerie’s appetite for a challenge and desire to set up her own business led her to create Unicorn PR & Communications. It is now firmly established as a successful communications company, celebrating 20 years in business this year. The company has a wide and varied client base, both in Ireland and Internationally.
Valerie is a seasoned communication and marketing executive, strategist and innovator; an expert in corporate communications, brand-building, reputation management and all things PR and business development related.
Her passion lies in pushing the boundaries and believes that effective communication is more than posters and flyers and when used right, it has the ability to lead a revolution.
Valerie has crafted compelling narratives, told hundreds of stories, put places on the map, got customers in the door, understood a product like no one else, averted crises, and handled difficult conversations, but most importantly, she has made a difference to her clients and their companies.
She holds a Degree in Business, and a Masters in Public & Political Communication from DCU.
Kendra Becker
Editor-in-chief of Goss.ie
After studying journalism and new media in college, Kendra joined Goss Media at the age of 21 back in 2015, starting out as an entertainment reporter.
Two years later, she became the Editor of Goss.ie, managing the editorial team and running the site daily.
Founded in 2014 by Alexandra Ryan, Goss.ie has become Ireland’s leading entertainment news site, covering the biggest celebrity stories and showbiz exclusives before anyone else.
With millions of impressions per week across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, Goss.ie has developed a strong social media presence, making it the leading account for female-focused publications in Ireland.
As well as running the editorial side of Goss.ie, Kendra is also heavily involved in organising and orchestrating events for the company, as well as working on brand campaigns and activations.
Alongside her undergraduate degree in Journalism, Kendra is currently undertaking a UCD Diploma in Leadership & Management.
Read more about Goss.ie‘s 2023 Women of the Year awards here.
