Jacqueline O’Donovan OBE has been awarded the London Irish Centre lifetime achievement award.<\/p>\n
Ms O’Donovan – whose family hail from Goleen in west Cork – oversaw with her siblings a remarkable expansion of the family’s waste management business in the south of England over the past four decades.<\/p>\n
O’Donovan Waste Management (ODWM) became a pioneering firm within British industry for its commitment to safety, environmental standards and business development.<\/p>\n
The lifetime achievement award hails her as “a distinguished businesswoman, entrepreneur, and industry trailblazer renowned for her transformative impact on the waste management and construction sectors.”<\/p>\n
The award was presented by Ireland’s Ambassador to the UK, Martin Fraser.<\/p>\n
It also recognised her outstanding contribution to the Irish community in London where she has long been a leading advocate, mentor and supporter.<\/p>\n
Ms O’Donovan’s career has been marked by exceptional leadership and innovation.<\/p>\n
As one of the most influential women in the UK construction and waste management industries, she has not only broken barriers but also championed sustainable practices, safety standards and opportunities for others to thrive.<\/p>\n
Her remarkable achievements have been recognised on both sides of the Irish Sea.<\/p>\n
Ms O’Donovan was previously honoured by President Michael D Higgins with the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for her extraordinary commitment to the Irish diaspora.<\/p>\n
She was also included in King Charles III\u2019s 2023 Birthday Honours List where she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her outstanding contribution to recycling, safety and industry.<\/p>\n
Ms O’Donovan also received the Freedom of the City of London.<\/p>\n
She said she was honoured by the Irish Centre award.<\/p>\n
“I am deeply proud of my heritage and it has always been important to me to give back to the Irish community in London, which has played such a vital role in my own journey. To be recognised in this way, and by the Irish Ambassador, is truly humbling.”<\/p>\n
Ms O’Donovan and her siblings took over operation of the family waste management business on the death of their father, Joe, in 1985.<\/p>\n
He hailed from Goleen in west Cork and ensured his family maintained their strong Irish links.<\/p>\n
Ms O’Donovan became managing director of the family firm at just 19 years old.<\/p>\n
Under her stewardship, the small family firm expanded to have over 100 employees with over 100 collection trucks on the road.<\/p>\n
ODWM also became one of the leading firms, not just in the UK but across Europe, for pioneering waste recycling systems.<\/p>\n
An advocate for training, construction excellence and HGV road safety, Ms O\u2019Donovan also supports business network the British Irish Trading Alliance as a patron.<\/p>\n
Ms O\u2019Donovan \u2013 who became the first woman to lead the UK\u2019s waste management industry \u2013 now lives in Kilburn in north west London.<\/p>\n
With her siblings, she helped grow their small family business from a firm worth \u00a3175,000 to a waste management empire that delivered a \u00a322m profit in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jacqueline O’Donovan OBE has been awarded the London Irish Centre lifetime achievement award. Ms O’Donovan – whose family…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,898],"class_list":{"0":"post-65120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-latest-news-ticker"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}