Dairygold Co-Operative Society has today (Friday, April 11) announced the appointment of JP McGrath as the society’s new chief financial officer.

McGrath joins Dairygold this week from Bord na Móna, where he served as both chief financial officer and chief operational officer of the semi-state energy company. McGrath succeeds Dairygold chief executive Michael Harte in his new position.

Commenting on JP McGrath’s appointment, Dairygold chief executive, Michael Harte said: “On behalf of everyone in Dairygold, I welcome JP to the organisation. JP’s experience in financial, commercial and operational management makes him an excellent addition to our Senior Leadership Team.

"His experience will play a critical role in driving our business strategy, to build a stronger, more resilient and sustainable Dairygold.”

During his five years with Bord na Móna, McGrath played a key role in helping to drive the company’s ‘Brown to Green’ transition from peat harvesting to a fully renewable energy and waste recycling business, delivering consecutive years of record profitability for the company.

The completion of this transition was marked in December 2023, when Bord na Móna ended the use of peat at its Edenderry Power Station and invested €100 million in its decarbonisation and transition to 100% biomass.

Prior to Bord na Móna, McGrath held senior positions, including chief financial officer of Norbrook Laboratories (a pharmaceutical company based in the UK).

He also had senior roles at Aryzta (food business based in Zürich, Switzerland), including managing director of its €1 billion turnover European and Asia-Pacific division.

Meanwhile, Dairygold is currently anticipating that milk volumes will reach over 1.45 billion litres over the course of this year.

In 2024, 1.38 billion litres of milk were collected and processed from Dairygold milk suppliers, which was down 2.1% year-on-year. This was particularly due to the adverse weather conditions in the first half of the year.

By comparison, the Munster-based co-op’s milk volumes stood at 1.48 billion litres in 2021 and 2022.