University of Limerick Alumni Spotlight: Máire Neary
In the latest instalment of our Alumni Spotlight series, we speak to LLB in Law and European Studies graduate Máire Neary, VP of People and Legal at Flipdish and Runner-Up Emerging Executive in the Image PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2026.
Máire discusses why the humanities are more valuable than ever as AI use increases and how her strong sense of curiousity led to a career change.
Tell us about yourself?
I’m a solicitor from Dromard in West Sligo and a graduate of Law and European Studies from UL. I’m currently the Vice President (VP) of People and Legal at the Irish tech unicorn, Flipdish, which I joined to set up its legal function. I now lead its HR and legal functions as a member of the Executive Team with responsibility for 275 people. I live in Dublin but spend a lot of my time at home in the West of Ireland. I’ve been involved for a long time in the disability sector from a voluntary perspective and currently serve on the Board of Directors of Down Syndrome Ireland.
Why did you choose to study Law and European Studies at UL?
I was young and wanted a third level education that was modern and not tied to more traditional structures. UL aligned with that - it was only one of two universities in Ireland at the time which had a work placement programme and the academic year was semesterised which I recall wasn’t really the norm at the time. I also liked UL's academic structure, where degrees combined more than one discipline and that appealed to me for a broader education. The campus set up also really attracted me for the university experience I wanted - and I spent all of my years in UL living on campus.
What did you enjoy about the course?
I like the variability - legal disciplines alongside humanities. I picked French and Politics alongside Law and kept up Spanish as an additional course too for a while. My day could be a mix of company law, French cinema and international relations theory.
I completed a six-month internship with Airbus in Toulouse which was one of the highlights of my degree. I was airplane mad (and ended up working in aircraft leasing as a corporate lawyer on secondment) and loved living in France with other interns from UL and all across Europe. I still spell things out loud on calls using the aviation alphabet.
Most enjoyable of all was the people I met in UL and the lifelong friendships I made. I am still best friends with my UL friends to this day and we’ve covered life’s big and small events together - from bridesmaid and godparent duties to travelling and holidays together. I’ve just come back from West Cork where we christened my newest godchild, who is the baby of one of the best friends I met on my course in UL. We also have our much loved and remembered friend Eoin from our course watching over us since our summer of graduation.
Tell us about your career journey so far?
I’ve gone from being a lawyer to both a lawyer and a people leader. After graduating from UL in 2011, I did my Law Society entrance exams and joined Arthur Cox as a trainee solicitor. I qualified into their Corporate and M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions team) team and spent a few years working with some of the best lawyers in Ireland on company sales and venture capital investments. In 2021, I joined Flipdish to set up its legal function and six months later it became Ireland’s fifth unicorn after a Series C investment round. In 2023, I also became Head of People and joined the Executive Team as VP in 2024.
How did your degree help you get to where you are now in your career?
I learned to be adaptable and pragmatic which I attribute to how my course was structured alongside my internship in France which was part of UL’s Co-op programme. Having a degree that covered both law and humanities subjects alongside a structured work placement abroad allowed me to have a broader perspective that I feel was useful in terms of being able to take a step back and consider the bigger picture. With AI in particular becoming an ever increasing part of our world, I think humanities disciplines have become even more valuable. Most of all, the structure of my UL degree encouraged me to be entrepreneurial which for me is not just about people who set up businesses, but about creating more value from the resources you have.
What advice would you give to anyone considering studying at UL?
Spend time on working out your motivations first for whatever course you are thinking of doing - figure out what energises you, make a list and go from there. I was lucky that my parents encouraged me to pursue what I wanted with no pressure or advice to go into any field. Doing some good reflective work figuring out what you really want to do is a good investment of time. I started off doing a different humanities course in UL before switching to Law and European Studies. I had pivoted from always wanting to do law to a change of course in a pretty busy final exam year in school.
At UL we encourage our students to Stay Curious. What keeps you curious and how important has curiosity been throughout your career?
I’m lucky to have a twin brother Eamon who is inherently curious by nature and keeps me curious. Eamon has Down Syndrome and he approaches everything new with a sense of excitement and an eagerness to learn. We are extremely close and a lot of his curious nature has rubbed off on me. I was a complete bookworm when I was younger and Matilda was both one of my favourite films and books - I was so happy when people told me I was like her. I still love reading and feel it keeps me curious although I read less now as an adult with my phone as a near constant companion. As a child I had no interest in cars or speed, but curiosity led me to randomly watch a Formula One race on TV. It became a lifelong passion, and I go to a race every year.
Curiosity was key in my decision to pivot from a stable and interesting career in a well established corporate law firm to join a start-up that was fundraising and from my career expansion from legal to legal and people.
Curiosity is definitely one of our most important human traits in our new world with AI. Every major breakthrough has come about from a human being curious and asking a question. When I did my UL co-op placement with Airbus in Toulouse, the double decker A380 was being launched by Air France. It was human curiosity that came up with the idea of a super jumbo. In Flipdish, we launched Flipdish AI Phone Agent a few months ago - another idea thought up by humans.
What are your plans for the future?
I like the phrase that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. I would be very happy if my future is like my life currently - full of love and fun with family and friends and a career and interests where I feel I can meaningfully contribute and make a difference. In the very near future however, my new hobby is padel and I would like to become much better at that!
