Glenisk Commercial Director is new Dairy Council CEO

Having spent the past 16 years working as the Commercial Director of organic dairy producer, Glenisk, Emma Walls has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Dairy Council.

Walls began her career with Wilson Hartnell Public Relations and later ran her own communications consultancy specialising in food and drink, before joining Glenisk in 2008. She has held a variety of roles at Glenisk including marketing, communications, sales, innovation and ESG and was appointed to its board of directors in 2015.

Chair of the Board of the National Dairy Council, Eamon Carroll, has congratulated Emma Walls on her appointment and said she will be "an outstanding ambassador and advocate for the dairy sector."

The NDC advocates on behalf of the 17,000 Irish dairy farming families that supply consumers at home and abroad with world-class premium products from Ireland's grassland dairy farming system, and Eamonn Carroll says he is confident that they now have "a superb leader in place" to continue to enhance the reputation of the diary sector.

Ms. Walls said that, while the challenges in the dairy sector "are significant, so too are the opportunities: this island nation is unlike any other place in the world for its climate, its small family farms and its pasture-based system."

She added that she is looking forward to working with, and on behalf of, "the remarkable community of dairy farmers who protect our land and preserve our heritage for the generations to come, as they continue to produce the best quality, most nutritious food available.”

Active in the wider food industry, Emma was appointed to the National Organic Strategy Forum in 2022 by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pippa Hackett. She is a director of Love Irish Food and is a member of Bord Bia’s Brand Forum Steering Committee. Walls is a former Marketer of the Year finalist as well as being a qualified barrister.

Eamon Carroll also expressed sincere gratitude to Mark Keller for his excellent service as Interim CEO over the past nine months. “Mark’s commitment and leadership have been invaluable during this time, ensuring stability and continued progress for the NDC,” he said. “We are pleased that Mark will continue to contribute to the NDC in his ongoing role as Strategic Operations Director.”