{"id":388042,"date":"2026-03-16T15:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/388042\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:08:12","slug":"irish-rail-needs-executive-chairman-outgoing-chair-says-in-resignation-letter-to-minister-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/388042\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Rail needs executive chairman, outgoing chair says in resignation letter to Minister \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irish Rail<\/a> needs a full time executive chairman in view of the scale of transformation at the State-owned company, its outgoing chair told Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien<\/a> in his letter of resignation.<\/p>\n

The Irish Times reported in February that Steve Murphy had stepped down as chairman<\/a> after two years in the role. He was due to serve as non-executive chairman of the rail company until 2029.<\/p>\n

In his formal letter of resignation to the Minister, Murphy said: \u201cAs you know, I absolutely love the work we are doing and it is so important for the ongoing success of the country. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, it is my view that the scale of transformation Irish Rail is going through needs an exec, rather than non-exec chair to provide the appropriate level of oversight and support. At the same time, I respect that this is not a role that currently exists, or indeed that I was recruited into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy said he was resigning from the post of chairman \u201cwith a heavy heart\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been an enormous privilege to hold this role for the last two years and work with your department and so many key stakeholders to carry on the excellent work of my predecessor and Jim Meade during his very successful tenure as CEO. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn particular, I am very proud of the introduction of an hourly Dublin-Belfast service, the opening of the transformed Rosslare Europort, the rapid development of the Cork metro [metropolitan rail] and numerous other successful capital projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, new records have been set on the existing railway for both punctuality and customer numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven all the progress that been made, it was a particular priority for me to ensure the transition to a new CEO continued the momentum that has been built and I am confident that in Mary Considine<\/a>, we have exactly the right leader to take the railway forward into the next, even more exciting chapter \u2013 your direct assistance in helping us achieve this transition was enormously appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Chairman of Irish Rail steps down after two years in roleOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In February, O\u2019Brien announced the appointment of Ultan Courtney as chair of the board of Irish Rail and as a director of the State-transport group C\u00f3ras Iompair \u00c9ireann (CIE) for a one-year period while a recruitment process is carried out to identify a permanent replacement.<\/p>\n

Courtney is a former chairman of Dublin Bus. Irish Rail and Dublin Bus are operational companies under the broader CIE group structure.<\/p>\n

In a replying letter, the Minister thanked Murphy for his contribution as chairman and director of the company. He said Murphy\u2019s leadership saw the rail company weather difficulties and remain in a position of growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring your tenure … there have been a number of challenges and successes. We saw the full recovery of rail service post-Covid, with passenger demand reaching record levels, and the introduction of the hourly Enterprise service, which saw a 40 per cent surge in numbers travelling on the route. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnder your leadership, the board has overseen a record capital programme, with major projects such as the DART+ and the Cork Area Commuter Rail programme progressing steadily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy had been a senior transport executive in the UK for many years before his appointment to Irish Rail.<\/p>\n

From 2020 to 2024, he was chief executive of MTR UK, overseeing the delivery of full Elizabeth line services in London, the joint venture on South Western Railway and the start-up of both infrastructure and property development businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Irish Rail needs a full time executive chairman in view of the scale of transformation at the State-owned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,2914,24001,18,13418,19,17,13419],"class_list":["post-388042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-darragh-o-brien","tag-department-of-transport","tag-eire","tag-iarnrod-eireann","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-rail"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116239486791628114","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388042","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=388042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}