![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/c38d5fbd-cfcb-42b9-827b-7df4c34e806a.jpg\")
<\/p>\nShe\u2019ll succeed Peter Vandermeersch, who has been Irish CEO since 2022 and before that had served as Publisher of the Antwerp-based group\u2019s Irish titles since the takeover of the former Independent News & Media plc in 2019.<\/p>\n
The news was announced to staff on Wednesday morning. Peter Vandermeersch is moving to take on a new group-wide role as Mediahuis Fellow \u2018Journalism and Society\u2019.<\/p>\n
He’d held a string of earlier senior roles at Mediahuis before coming to Ireland, including as editor-in-chief of De Standaard in Belgium and NRC in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Peter Vandermeersch and Sheena Peirse<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds, Wednesday, August 27<\/p>\n
Sheena Peirse joined Mediahuis Ireland in 2019, initially as Digital Editorial Director, before that she held senior roles in UK broadcast media, including ITV and Channel 4, where she played a leading role shaping the digital strategy and content initiatives.<\/p>\n
In her current role as Chief Customer Officer, she spearheaded strategic change across the subscription and marketing business, helping the company surpass 100,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n
In her new role she will work closely with Mediahuis Ireland COO Ian Keogh and CFO Ross Murray, alongside the rest of the Mediahuis Ireland Executive Leadership Team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am honoured to take on this role at such a pivotal time for our organisation and for journalism,\u201d said Sheena.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter and Ian have laid a strong foundation for our digital growth, and I look forward to building on that legacy with our talented teams across Ireland and Northern Ireland. Together, we will continue to deliver independent, high quality journalism that plays a relevant role in our readers\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CEO of Mediahuis Group, Gert Ysebaert, said Sheena Peirse has demonstrated exceptional leadership and vision in her role as Chief Customer Officer.<\/p>\n
“Her deep understanding of both editorial and commercial strategy makes her uniquely positioned to lead Mediahuis Ireland into its next chapter. I wish her every success in this important role and look forward to the continued impact she will make on our organisation and the wider media landscape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said the appointments come against a backdrop of profound change in the media industry.<\/p>\n
“At Mediahuis, we strongly believe journalism is a vital force for truth, connection, and democracy. This mission can no longer be taken for granted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we are launching the Mediahuis Fellowship \u2018Journalism and Society\u2019, a strategic role designed to reflect, challenge, connect, and inspire across brands, disciplines, and audiences. I\u2019m delighted that Peter Vandermeersch will lead this initiative with the insight and vision he has consistently brought to our organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his new role as Mediahuis Fellow \u2018Journalism and Society\u2019, Peter Vandermeersch will focus on keeping the group\u2019s journalistic mission relevant, acting as a unifying force in an increasingly polarised society and making the value of journalism more visible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this fellowship, I want to further strengthen Mediahuis\u2019 position as a thought leader, addressing some of the industry’s key challenges\u2014such as the relevance of journalism, its role in an era of polarisation, trust, press freedom, engaging with diverse audiences, and ensuring a sustainable future for local journalism\u2014while exploring the responsible use of AI in newsrooms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She\u2019ll succeed Peter Vandermeersch, who has been Irish CEO since 2022 and before that had served as Publisher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,10891,18,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-26364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-donal-odonovan","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}