Appreciation

Joe Moran

It is with deep regret that we learned of the death of our former colleague and esteemed Chief Executive, Joe Moran, on 13th February. Joe spent 47 years in ESB, coming into the company at the base level of recruitment but rising quickly to a variety of senior management levels. He was appointed as ESB Chief Executive on April 1st 1991 and arrived in the throes of a strike which had led to countrywide power cuts. He quickly moved to ensure that a similar situation would not arise again and he set up a Joint Management/Trade Union "Review of Relationships within ESB" under the Chairmanship of Peter Cassells of ICTU

This was an innovative approach which lead to a seismic change in the culture of ESB, introducing the concept of partnership and setting the framework for the peaceful introduction of change. By the time he retired in 1997, Joe Moran had halved the ESB's debt. The bedding in of the 1996 CCR was seen as one of his finest achievements. The agreement saw a massive programme of change, which included saving of about €100M a year and over 2,000 staff reductions, all of which was achieved comparatively harmoniously.

Outside of ESB Joe was active in a number of companies and voluntary directorships. He was the first Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the National Treasury Management Agency and served as President of the Financial Executives Association. He was also a member of the Board of Peamount Hospital for nearly 30 years, serving as Chairman for almost 10 years. He was appointed to the chair of the Burren Consultative Committee and chaired the Forum for the Construction Committee. His personal interests included an enduring interest in art, particularly sculpture, pottery and ceramics. The silver medal awarded annually by the RHA is called the Connor/Moran Award after Jerome Connor and Joe Moran, representing the mutual co-dependence of the art and the business worlds.

Everyone who came in contact with Joe deeply respected him as a man of complete integrity and an inherent decency. As Chief Executive he gained the trust of all to support him in managing the fundamental changes he introduced in the company. His management style was unique, he believed in really managing through people. Delegation and trust were key words in his approach. He believed that the correct people to make decisions were those nearest the situations who understood it best.