Magnified with Matt Cooper

Ciaran Mulligan, managing director CMUL Investments, and founder and former managing director of Blue Insurance is one of Ireland's most innovative and respected entrepreneurs with a life story to match. From his earliest beginnings in the legendary Lillie's Bordello to the sale of the hugely successful insurance business to blogging his extensive travels as ‘The Fabulous Traveller’, it's fair to say Ciaran has taken life head-on. In this week's Magnified he discusses his evolution as a businessman and speaks with incredible courage to Matt about his tragic experience with surrogacy.

In this edition Matt is joined by IBEC Chief Executive Officer Danny McCoy. Now in the role since 2009, he talks about his background as an economist, growing up in Tuam in the seventies and why our critical infrastructure needs to be looked at differently.

In a slightly different edition of Magnified, Matt is joined by The Irish Times Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy to discuss the 'Common Ground' project currently being undertaken by the newspaper.

In this edition Matt is joined by hospitality entrepreneur Jay Bourke about his plans for Quinns in Drumcondra, his career in the industry and his experience in dealing with insolvency.

In this edition Matt is joined by the founder of new social media consultancy - Frankly, Michael Corcoran. Having most recently made his name as head of social at Ryanair and prior to that Betfair, he discusses the future for brands and social media and his own path in the industry, while navigating around the challenge of dyslexia.

Feargal O'Rourke is the recently appointed Chair of the IDA, having retired as Managing Partner of PWC in Ireland. He is considered to be the architect of many of the corporate tax policies which have seen the country's corporate tax take increase in recent years. In this edition he discusses his career, his family history in politics, and his ambitions for the IDA.

In this edition Matt is joined by one of the most influential Women in World Sport. Lisa Fallon has been a footballer, an analyst, coach, manager and now sits on the FIFA Technical Group and has built a reputation as one of the foremost minds in the game.

Matt is joined for this edition by Aimee Connolly, who at 23 founded the Sculpted by Aimee beauty brand and has built it up into a thriving business since. Having moved into the UK, she now has her sights set on America.

In this edition Matt speaks with former Rugby International and Coach Bernard Jackman about his post rugby career, his business studies and his new role as High Performance Director of Horse Sport Ireland and ambitions for Olympic Gold.

In this edition Matt is joined by Cathal Friel an innovative entrepreneur now operating in the healthcare sector. With a background in finance, he has successfully led numerous companies through strategic growth and development. He had an unlikely start, leaving school after his Inter cert, initially to run the family business. He talks candidly about his past, why IPO's are so important and his thoughts on the future of housing.

In this edition Matt is joined by Ireland's AI Ambassador, Patricia Scanlon. Patricia is a technologist and businesswoman who built up her company Soapbox Labs to become a world leader in speech based artificial intelligence which helps children learn to read. Here she speaks about the potential for AI, the need for regulation and where Ireland sits in its development.

In this edition Matt is Joined by Jacqueline O'Donovan, who at just 19 became Managing Director of O'Donovan Waste Disposal and built the business up from revenues of £175,000 to £20 million last year. Still the company CEO, she last year sold the business to a major Nordic buyer, Sortera. She talks about the challenges of her business career, her home from home in West Cork and mentoring other women in business.

Vicki O'Toole found herself taking over Ireland's oldest packaging company in the most difficult circumstances. Under her leadership it thrived and ultimately she sold the business. In this edition of Magnified she talks about how she started in the business, juggled it with family life and how she dealt with the tragic loss of her husband.

On this the first episode of a new series Matt magnifies the career of the man largely responsible for bringing major College American Football games to Ireland, while also running one of the country's best known restaurants.

In this episode Matt Cooper is joined at his kitchen table by former IDA Ireland C.E.O and now Grant Thornton Partner Martin Shanahan to discuss his career, foreign direct investment in Ireland and where investment in Ireland will come from in the future.

On this edition Matt Cooper is joined by renowned performance and leadership coach Enda McNulty to discuss his career as a sportsman and a business coach and the key takeaways from his new book on leadership.

On this edition, Matt is joined by EMEA Head of Sales for Bear Robotics Malachy Ryan. In a fascinating discussion they traverse his introduction to Robotics and process engineering, through a stint in construction to the future of Robots and Cobots in our daily lives.

On this edition Matt Cooper is joined by cancer survivor, trade unionist and social inclusion advocate for a lengthy discussion on modern Ireland and the role of immigrants in society.

In the first of a new series of Magnified, Matt Cooper is joined by Airtricity and Mainstream renewables founder, and now Supernode Chairman Eddie O'Connor as they discuss the future of clean energy and Ireland's place in it.

In the final episode of 2022, Matt is joined by David McDonald and Mick Clifford to discuss their book Unlocked and David's long career in the Irish Prison Service.