Our team

Belfast-born Tim grew up in Clare with both parents in hospitality, living in Shannon Golf Club’s clubhouse, a stroll from the airport. Inducted into the family business as a young teen, he always had an eye for the sky, travelling solo long haul for the first time at 17 Tim was a global project director with a Fortune 500 company before returning to his first love of food and hospitality, assembling a team that would be the first in Ireland to specialise in hospitality and food public relations, 20 years ago. A travel expert, he has spent more time living in hotel rooms than at home and is obsessed by food and the culture around it, from three stars to eating in your car. Travelling the world for tastings, from rum in Cuba to mezcal or sake, he has a special love for the most westerly strip of Europe from Northern Portugal to Jerez, sherry to port and everything in between. Having spent decades building an international network in food, drink and hospitality with the understanding that the more you know, the more you realise there’s so much more to learn, Tim puts that world experience to work at home for the team and the Host client roster.        

Órla Dukes has worked at Host since it began. Creative Director, she directs the company’s copy and events, responsible for overseeing all the company’s writing, web content and text and social media campaign content. Órla also works closely with Tim on F&B and hospitality consultancy projects around Ireland and abroad. A key member of the food & beverage team at Host, her expertise adds considerable value to our food-focused clients. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin with a degree in English and Art History, Órla spent 10 years working in arts administration, programming the artist-in-residency studios at IMMA, was food and travel writer for Business & Finance magazine (as Stella Morris) for six years and regularly writes freelance pieces on food and travel for Irish magazines and media outlets. A serious cook, Órla walks her dog and practices downward dog in an attempt to balance out her life and career of eating — a balance that has yet to be satisfactorily reached. She is also continually trying to relearn the ability to put the phone away and pick up a book, even though there’s nothing she enjoys more. Except for maybe a good book and a glass of wine in the sunshine.    

A very proud Tipp woman and former primary school teacher, Breffni O’Dwyer worked in the International Publicity Department with Fáilte Ireland and on the Jameson International Film Festival before joining Host in 2013. Since then, apart from managing the team at Host, Breff has worked on a variety of campaigns from Ballymaloe Litfest to launching Bertha’s Revenge Gin and Slane Distillery. Whether with constantly innovating hotels like The Twelve, Restaurant Chestnut winning their Michelin star for the first time, launching a new business like Street on Bird Avenue or hosting virtual book launches for Adare Manor with key food and drinks media, Breffni creates buzzing campaigns with effective results for her clients. An old lady disguised as a young woman with a razor-sharp bob, she likes movies and musicals from the 40s and 50s (and the Saturday afternoon Lyric FM show of the same name), vintage clothes and is a Reeling In The Years superfan. Cooking is her therapy along with braving the Irish sea from time to time and while the rest of Host sip their martinis, Breffni can be found with a whiskey in hand. She walks to work from D3 everyday with her canine colleague and true love of her life, Sadie.

With a BS Degree in Communications Studies from DCU and a Post-graduate Diploma in Public Relations, Karen Glackin was a fresh-faced intern when she started working with MD Tim Magee a couple of years before joining Host as Account Manager when it was founded in 2004. A Client Director for the past seven years, Karen manages the PR for hotels including The Shelbourne and CLIFF group, has launched restaurants such as allta and Volpe Nera, and worked with food and drinks brands including Green Saffron and Wines from Spain. Originally from Sligo and now living by the sea in Dublin, Karen is happiest on a beach or sipping something chilled and white with a view of the water. Karen has three adorable and energetic young sons so when she isn’t living the Host life, she can mostly be found doing laundry or playing football (badly). Karen applies her remarkable organisational capacity as a busy mum to her impressive managerial skills for her clients.

Our Donegal lass Cathy Cowan graduated from Media Studies at University College of Ulster and went on to study journalism and media communications, working as a journalist for two years with Irish Tatler before Host coaxed her into the world of PR. Cathy went on to hold marketing and PR positions in a number of international PR agencies and digital media companies and spent time working and living in London before returning to Host in 2018. Since rejoining Host she has managed very successful campaigns for the opening of The Hendrick in Smithfield, Hard Rock Hotel in Dublin, Burren Food Festival and many more. A quick-thinking and creative member of the team, Cathy excels in crafting fresh and interesting ways to secure the best exposure for new and existing clients. As they say in Donegal, she’s a girl that’s always ready for the road — nothing makes her happier than a road trip around Ireland to meet clients, discovering dining gems along the way and when at home, beach walks with her beloved cocker spaniel Dolly.

After completing a design degree in 2010 Lucy Finnegan worked in hospitality and design in New York, joining Host & Company on her return home in 2014. Lucy has worked across a number of key hospitality, wine and festival clients including the Irish Georgian estate Carton House, Flynn Hotel Collection, 3Arena’s private members clubs, the 1878 and The Premium Club, and fEast Cork food & drink festival. With a creative background, Lucy loves producing bespoke, engaging and diverse campaigns for her clients, maximising results and coverage while working closely and building strong relationships with the media. Lucy began working with Wines from Spain in 2016, where she was luckily able to draw on one of her particular interests, hosting the first Irish press trip to Ribera del Duero in 2017, after which she completed her WSET Level 2 course with distinction. Lucy is fond of a chat, a bubble or a boat drink from her carefully curated and prized home bar, holidaying in Lake Como, Oliver her rescue cat and the three men in her life, Paul, Toby and Robin.

Maggie joined the team eight years ago after completing her Diploma in Public Relations from the Public Relations Institute of Ireland. With a background in travel PR and a degree in Spanish and Translation Studies, Maggie has worked across a number of key food and drinks campaigns including Aimsir restaurant, Fallon & Byrne, Cloud Picker Coffee, Loose Canon wine shop, Wines from Spain and their annual Spanish Wine Week, the wine region of Rías Baixas and the Spanish food shop Heart of Spain. Maggie also develops the social media strategy for a number of food and drinks clients across the Host roster including Pickle and Aimsir, and works as a key member of the Euro-Toques Young Chef team annually. Originally from Westport, Maggie lives in Stoneybatter where she can frequently be found having croquettes at the bar in Fish Shop, spending all her money on groceries in Lilliput Stores and eating pasta in Grano. One of Host’s best cooks, Maggie is also partial to a bone dry martini and buys far too many fancy pet bits for her two cats, Jude St. Francis and Peggy.

Sophie joined the Host team in 2021, with a BSc in Multimedia from DCU and a Postgraduate Diploma in PR & Event Management from The Fitzwilliam Institute.  Sophie started her PR career interning at a music and entertainment agency, where she worked with Ireland’s key TV and radio stations. She then spent almost three years building her experience in PR and marketing on a national and international level with Ireland’s Blue Book, regularly taking part in trade shows to showcase her clients to media and the general public. At Host, Sophie works with a number of client accounts to help maximise their success using her knowledge of Irish hospitality and food. Originally from Kildare, Sophie moved up the road to Ranelagh a year ago and has since enjoyed hopping to every bar and restaurant in the vicinity. Always up for a last minute trip, from food tours in Bologna to music festivals in Budapest, Sophie also loves spending her weekends closer to home and travelling around Ireland, happy to give her friends a lift since she finally got a car.  

Originally from London, Hattie first worked in health PR for two years and then with a VC in Kensington, helping to run events and using the opportunity to understand how to build and scale businesses. During the pandemic, Hattie had her mid-covid crisis and realised she had to do what she loved and follow her passion for cooking and food. So she moved to Ireland and signed up to do the 12-week course at Ballymaloe Cookery School, where she thrived, learning and living off the land on the beautiful 100-acre organic farm. After completing the course, she moved to Dublin, working in a number of kitchens and continuing her cooking as a private chef to expand on her skills before becoming part of the team at Host & Co., where she continues to work in food across a number of different clients.  At the weekends you can find Hattie exploring the Irish countryside, eating out in and around Dublin or visiting friends and family back in the UK.

Cooper joined Host & Co. in 2021 from Wicklow Animal Welfare and loves long runs on the beach in the morning with her sister Sadie before they make the commute into the office on South William Street.

Sadie joined Host in November 2017, travelling to the South William Street office in a handbag with a hot water bottle and a blanket for the first few months of her internship. She learned the ropes pretty quickly and takes her role as Best Girl very seriously. When she’s not across the hall swapping notes with her pal Penny, an older hand at the office dog routine, she can be found giving high-fives to the team, posing for pics and enjoying a lunchtime stroll in Stephen’s Green or a Friday evening pint outside Grogans.