Leading for good in sport and business – Trinity Business Summit 2025

Posted on: 14 April 2025

The 2025 Trinity Business Summit will bring together sports leaders and business experts to share insights on how to harness the power of sport for organisational success.

The event, hosted by Trinity Business School in collaboration with Trinity Sport, will take place on Wednesday 16 April, 3:00pm – 7:00pm. See the Trinity Business School website for registration and programme details.

Chancellor of Trinity and former President of Ireland, Dr Mary McAleese, will deliver the keynote speech. Dr McAleese is the Chairperson of the Steering Group for Integration of the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, and the Camogie Association. She and her husband, Martin McAleese, are also joint patrons of the 30% Club (Ireland).

This will be followed by a series of panel discussions where business and sport leaders will explore the powerful synergies between sport and business, focusing on how team spirit, resilience, and high performance can be leveraged to drive success in investment, startups, and executive leadership. Panellists include: 

• Ryan Baird – Leinster & Ireland Rugby Player, Trinity Business School student
• Joe McCarthy – Leinster & Ireland Rugby Player, Trinity Business School graduate
• Annalise Murphy – Triple Olympian & Head of Operations at SportsKey, Trinity Business School graduate
• Jamie Heaslip – Former Leinster & Ireland Rugby Player, Strategic Growth Lead at Stripe, Trinity Business School graduate
• Benjamin Kayser – Former Pro 14 & France Rugby Player, Co-Founder of VC Fund Teampact Ventures
• Diane Marie Hardy, heptathlon champion and Rugby 7, JP Morgan
• Peter Sherrard, CEO, Olympic Federation of Ireland
• Kevin McLaughlin, VP People and Operations, Kitman Lab
• Colin O’Brien, Operations & Sustainability Executive at Croke Park
• Emma Merriweather, Trinity Meteors Women’s Basketball Player, Trinity Business School Student-Athlete.

Special Olympic athletes Donal Brennan and Lorraine Whealan, two outstanding members of Team Ireland, will join the Summit as honorary guests. The Summit will celebrate their achievements following a stellar campaign at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin.

Also during the event, visitors will have the opportunity to view the Formula Trinity car and the Trinity Rowing Club’s coxed 4+ F40 boat on display, and to try out Trinity Sport’s cutting-edge performance testing equipment. This technology empowers our student athletes to train smarter, recovering faster, and perform at their peak. From tracking bar speed and measuring jump height to testing force production, these tools play a vital role in helping our performance staff push collegiate teams to achieve their best every day.

 The 2025 Trinity Business Summit forms part of a year-long programme of events in Trinity Business School to mark its 100^th anniversary. See here for more information on the centenary celebrations. 

Laurent Muzellec, Dean of Trinity Business School commented: “At a time when diversity and inclusion are being challenged, sport stands as a powerful unifier. On the field, differences fade—what matters is teamwork, resilience, and the shared goal of winning. The same principles that drive success in sport can help businesses navigate challenges in teamwork, integration, and leadership.

“The summit will explore three key themes. We will look at how performance drives inclusivity – in sport, it doesn’t matter where you come from; what matters is how you contribute. Businesses can adopt the same mindset to foster diverse and high-performing teams. Our speakers will also assess resilience under pressure – just like in sport, setbacks in business are inevitable. Learning to bounce back and stay focused is key to long-term success.”

“Finally, we will examine how team spirit wins – in high-performing teams, collaboration and shared goals outweigh individual differences. Businesses can cultivate a winning culture by prioritising teamwork over debate.”

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