Spearheading Elan in Athlone

The morning of Monday, April 19, was a significant one in the history of Ireland's largest indigenous pharmaceutical company. That was when Elan made the announcement that, over 40 years after the company was formed, its board was exploring its separation into two standalone businesses. While the 400 employees at the local Elan facility in Monksland were making their way to work, the news was being broadcast to the nation on RTE's Morning Ireland. The man tasked with fielding the local staff's questions about the announcement that day was Declan O'Connor, site general manager for Elan in Athlone. "It's my role to pull employees together, talk to them about the announcement and give them the opportunity to ask questions," said Declan. "Even if I'm repeating a lot of what's in a statement, it's important to give people the chance to ask questions like 'where is the business going?' and 'what does this mean?' so that they're not just reading about it in the newspapers." A Kerry native who lives in Glasson, Declan joined Elan in 1997 and took charge of the Athlone facility in 2007. When he recently met with the Westmeath Independent he discussed his journey to date and explained why the recent announcement could have long-term benefits for the facility in Monksland. Growing up between Listowel and Ballybunion, Declan's background was steeped in the GAA. His father Gerdie O'Connor captained the Kerry team in the 1960s and Declan played for the local club, Shannon Rangers. After completing his secondary education at St Michael's College in Listowel he studied commerce at UCD in the late 80s. His career began in Dublin, where he worked in corporate finance with the ESB. After five years in this role he joined Elan in Athlone in 1997. Just two years later he was given the opportunity to take up a position with the company in the US and so he and Catherine - who he'd recently married - were on the move from Athlone to Atlanta, Georgia. Declan and Catherine spent four years in the United States and their first daughter, Abbie, was born in Atlanta. He said he learned a lot during his time there. "It was great international experience. I learned a lot about operating in the US and the US management style, which can be slightly different from the European management style," he said. "I've always found Elan to be a very good company to work for. It's a private sector company and it will make business decisions, no doubt about that, but it is very ethical in its approach and it tries to be fair in its dealings with all stakeholders." He added that he initially joined Elan through the Athlone site and had been given opportunities to work in a number of roles which included a spell in the US. In the US he was head of finance and IT for the Elan facility in Atlanta, Georgia, and he then became head of finance for Elan operations in North America. During the first few years of this century Elan went through a turbulent spell and Declan's last role in the US involved closing down its facility in Princeton, New Jersey. "Elan was under quite a lot of pressure at the time and we needed to divest a lot of assets in order to stay afloat and ensure Elan had a long-term future," he said. When that process came to an end, Elan was effectively left with two businesses under one umbrella: a biotech business and the Elan Drug Technologies business which incorporates the Athlone facility and two plants in the US. On a personal level, Declan said that in 2003 he was faced with a choice. Either he would leave Elan and remain in the US or return home to begin a new role with the company. He chose the latter option, moving to Athlone to become head of finance for the EDT business before becoming site general manager in 2007. He praised the "professionalism and experience" of the company's staff in Athlone. "If you asked me what's the most important factor for Athlone to ensure there's going to be a viable plant here for the next decade and beyond, it's going to be the flexibility and competence of the employees. That's the key resource that we have," he said. Elan recently released its first quarter financial results, reporting a $19m revenue boost from the manufacture of the Ampyra multiple sclerosis drug at its local facility. Declan described Ampyra as "probably the most high-profile product we've launched from the facility for many years." In addition to Ampyra, the local facility has one product awaiting approval from European regulators and another in phase two clinical trials. Next year it plans to begin the commercial manufacture of a drug on behalf of the Merck Pharmaceutical company. The local facility's business involved "relatively small volume niche products that are of a high value to the organisation," Declan stated. Discussing the announcement about the possible separation of the EDT and biotech businesses, he said Elan's board would be considering all its stakeholders' interests as it makes a final decision on the matter in the coming months. He said that if a decision is made to list EDT as a separate entity on the stock market there was "a great opportunity" to thrive. The new entity would incorporate EDT facilities in Athlone, Philadelphia and Georgia. "I think it would provide us with a great opportunity to grow the business. If there is that access to capital for the Drug Technology business I can see the advantages of potentially acquiring and investing in new technology platforms that would guarantee not only Athlone's but EDT's success for the next number of years." Outside of work, Declan is a sports enthusiast who closely follows the fortunes of the Kerry GAA and Munster rugby teams. He also enjoys playing golf at the Glasson club. "I have a young family - a three-year-old boy, Daire and Abbie who's eight and is going to make her First Holy Communion with her class at Tubberclair NS this year," he said. "I don't have a huge amount of spare time, but Catherine takes an awful lot of the pressure off me in terms of my home life. That's a huge help. "She stopped working outside the home to support the family and support my career. She came to the US with me when I had the opportunity to go there, so I certainly wouldn't be in the job I'm in today without Catherine's support and my family's support," he reflected. While it places heavy demands on his time, Declan said the role with Elan is one he enjoys greatly. "It's a hugely challenging but satisfying role. It's a role I'm lucky to have," he said. "The part I like about the role is that it can make a difference to the future of this facility. I have to be cognizant of the fact that there's a huge tradition here and history within the plant going back to Don Panoz, Donal Geaney, Seamus Mulligan, John Devane. They're men who left a strong legacy here in Athlone. "I'm only looking after that legacy for a period of time. It's going to be here beyond me. My role is to ensure that when I leave the facility the employee base here is as strong as it can possibly be, and the business is as strong as it can possibly be."