Dermot Ryan, Principal

Dermot has almost 30 years of experience working in key advisory roles to leaders of not-for-profit, public sector bodies and private companies in both Ireland and Australia.

Dermot established DR Advisory after returning to Ireland in 2018 after seven years in Australia, where he served as Chief of Staff to Australian Labor Party President and Transport Workers’ Union Head Tony Sheldon, and as Head of External Affairs & Communications at Amnesty International Australia.

Earlier in his career, Dermot worked as an Advisor to Adi Roche in her role as Head of Chernobyl Children International, the world’s leading not-for-profit organisation working to alleviate suffering from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Dermot also worked in an advisory role for a political party and has worked with government and opposition politicians in both the Irish and Australian political systems. In 2004, Dermot co-founded one of Ireland’s leading public affairs and public relations companies, which he co-directed for seven years before taking up the opportunity to live down under.

An experienced political campaign on three continents, Dermot has managed political campaigns for national, European and local elections. He now delivers training on behalf of Women for Election and has consulted with the Washington DC-based National Democratic Institute.

Dermot is Chair of the Board of Alice Public Relations, an award-winning Public Relations AGency that delivers change to make Ireland and the world a better place. He is currently a Board Member of Belong To, Ireland’s national LGBTQ+ youth organisation.

The son of publicans, Dermot grew up living over the family pub and restaurant business in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. He attributes this to his love of cooking and also his patience with customers!