PRII Certificate in Executive Communications for ETB

This certificate is designed for ETB directors who play a multifaceted role—navigating relationships with key stakeholders and overseeing their organisation’s communications with the broader public and media.

1. Build communications capacity across the ETB sector.  
2. Promote understanding and deployment of Strategic Communications across the ETB sector, as a key contributor to organisational success.  
3. Support ETB Directors in their roles and build cross-directorate communications networking 

The programme, commencing in January 2026, will have 8 online sessions of approximately 2.5 hours duration. These will be delivered online via Zoom.

• Session 1: Strategic Communications (January 13th) 
• Session 2: Strategic Communications (February 10th) 
• Session 3: Resourcing, Evaluation & Measurement   (March 3rd) 
• Session 4: Effective Communications and Risk Management (March 24th) 
• Session 5: Public Affairs (April 14th) 
• Session 6: Internal Communications (May 12th) 
• Session 7: Social Media and Artificial intelligence (June 9th) 
• Session 8: Review and Insights from the Program (June 23rd or 30th TBC) 

Niall Quinn MPRII 

Barrister-at-Law, Accredited Mediator, Strategic Communications Advisor, PRII Diploma Lecturer & Past PRII President 

Niall Quinn, MPRII is a practising barrister, mediator and strategic communications advisor with over 20 years' experience in issues and crisis management. A former President of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) and non-executive Director of the Public Relations Consultants Association, he lectures in strategic communications and directs the PRII’s professional certification programme in issues and crisis communications as well as being engaged for strategic communications assignments.

A BSc (Mgmt) graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he completed his postgraduate studies in law at King’s Inns, Dublin and undertook the Barrister-at-Law degree programme before being called to the Bar of Ireland in 2015. He subsequently completed training as a mediator and enjoys Accredited Mediator status from the Mediators' Institute of Ireland and is a member of its Organisational and Workplace Mediation Committee.

Niall has recently completed a term as a member of the National Oversight and Audit Commission, a statutory body which has an oversight role in the Local Authority sector and was appointed to the board of the National Treatment Purchase Fund in May 2023. Last year he was selected by the Mental Health Commission for its panel of Decision Making Representatives to be appointed under the Assisted Decision Making Act 2015.

Niall teaches Module 1 - Strategic Value of Public Relations & Professional Environment on the PRII Diploma in Public Relations.

 

Dermot Ryan MPRII 

Chair, Alice Public Relations, Principal, DR Advisory

Dermot Ryan has worked in Public Affairs for almost 30 years, in a variety of in house and agency roles with a focus on public sector, not for profit and political campaigning. He currently serves as Chair of Alice Public Relations, an award winning agency with a focus on helping organisations to achieve positive progressive change.

In 2004, Dermot co-founded a leading Public Affairs agency in Dublin, which he co-directed for seven years before moving to Australia where he served as a political Chief of Staff, and as Head of External Affairs with Amnesty International.

A skilled trainer and facilitator, Dermot has qualifications from the Learning and Development Institute and the Irish Management Institute, and has designed and delivered training for Women for Election and for the Washington DC based National Democratic Institute.

Earlier in his career, Dermot worked as media advisor to Adi Roche in her role as Head of Chernobyl Children International, the world’s leading not-for-profit organisation working to alleviate suffering from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

 

Andrew Bruce Smith

Andrew Bruce Smith FCIPR, MPRCA, is a member of the PRII AI in PR Working Group, set up in 2023.

Andrew is a renowned expert in artificial intelligence and its applications in PR and communications, social media, SEO, and analytics. With a foundational education in Philosophy and Mathematical Logic from the University of Edinburgh (1981-1985), he developed a keen interest in AI early in his career. Andrew further honed his skills in AI programming languages in the late 1980s, a time when AI was still nascent.

Pioneering the adoption of AI content tools such as Wordsmith in the early 2010s, Andrew has consistently stayed at the forefront of technological innovation. This, coupled with his leadership as the Chair of the CIPR’s AI in PR panel, makes him a much sought-after speaker and commentator on the impact of AI.

In 2018, the UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) hailed him as “one of PR's greatest thinkers”. He was instrumental in the CIPR’s 2021 Professional Practice Review into Research, Measurement and Evaluation in Public Relations and Communications, where his expertise in AI played a significant role.

He has shared his expertise with over 3,000 organisations over the last 15 years, including NATO, the Department of Environment (DEFRA), NHS, Specsavers, Sky, Jaguar Land Rover, Disney, and many others.

 

May Flanagan

May Flanagan is a certified member of the Institute of Internal Communications (IoIC) and the Learning & Development Institute (L&DI), as well as a qualified facilitator and IoIC Network Lead for Ireland, bringing 13+ years of global experience in communications.

To reinforce learning, the programme will include a key assessment task. This will be graded. Participants will be tasked with conducting a communications audit to assess if their ETBs communication activities. They will establish what is working well, what is not, what could be improved and how could this be done.