Former Olympian and Chief Executive at Sport Ireland, John Treacy, is the new Chair of the Port of Waterford Company.

The Villierstown native is also a former Chief Executive at the Irish Sports Council and his appointment to the port role was announced by its board of directors in recent days.

John Treacy replaces Des Whelan who completed his term as chair in late 2022 after eight successful years guiding the port to growth and through the development of its masterplan.

Welcoming John to the role, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan TD said: “The Port of Waterford is the most important Load-On Load-Off (Lo-Lo ) port in the Southeast and I was delighted to appoint John Treacy as Chairperson of the Company. The Port enjoys excellent connectivity to both the national road and rail networks and I know that John will bring his skills to bear in furthering the sustainable growth of the Company.

It is important that all of our main ports are developed in a sustainable way. Waterford Port is only one of two ports in Ireland with an operating rail freight terminal. The further development of rail freight is a key priority of mine as Minister for Transport and the forthcoming All Island Strategic Rail Review will set an increased ambition for rail freight as a means of addressing congestion and emissions from road haulage over the next 30 years.”

John Treacy spoke about his new role on the Deise Today this morning (Monday) with Damien Tiernan.

You can listen back to their chat by clicking on the image above.