About Declan Coyle

Declan Coyle

Founder of The Green Platform

Declan Coyle is a Director of Andec Communications and one of Ireland’s most internationally experienced leadership training and development consultants. He is also much sought after as a conference keynote speaker. Declan has lived life on many levels, all of which have helped form his revolutionary Green Platform principles and thinking.

Early Years

He was born into a farming family in County Cavan, Ireland and saw first hand both the poverty and human richness to be found in Ireland at that time. These experiences left him with a deep desire to help others and after school he joined the Columban Fathers who worked in many of the world’s poorest slums.

During his post graduate studies in Ottawa, Canada, Declan’s visiting professor was the great Austrian Neurologist, Psychiatrist and Holocaust Survivor Viktor Frankl. Frankl’s insights into a person’s ability to choose happiness and positive meaning in their lives despite dire circumstances, had a huge influence on the young Declan Coyle. This was a defining moment and the start of Declan’s development of his Green Platform principles and thinking.

When Declan left Ottawa after being awarded two Masters Degrees he was sent to work in the slums of the Philippines. Once again his experience in burying thousands of babies who had died of malnutrition related diseases proved a powerful catalyst for his belief that even in bad situations we need to identify and work towards positive change. During this time he set up the Philippines Human Development Fund which for the past 35 years has been supporting sustainable food, income and educational help to the poorest families in the Philippines. He later also lived and worked with the poor in Taiwan.

Family influence

Declan spent a total of 27 years working with the Columban Fathers before leaving to marry his Australian wife Annette. They have 3 children – Genevieve, Fionn and Alexander. Alexander’s birth also had a particularly huge impact on Declan, as Alex was born with a rare genetic condition, Mowat Wilson Syndrome which means he is profoundly physically and mentally disabled. In Alexander, Declan witnessed someone who is not able to speak, is tube fed, suffers severe seizures and many other medical problems, but is still able to be happy and to bring intense joy to others.

The sectors Declan has worked with

The Green Platform principles form the bedrock for all the Development Programmes and Keynote addresses Declan delivers to Blue Chip companies, Government Departments, Sports Teams and Individuals. He works with diverse sectors including Banking and Financial Services, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, Information Technology, Insurance, Regulatory Bodies, Professional Services and Unions.

He regularly addresses and inspires senior management teams and CEO’s in companies across the globe: Ireland, USA, Canada, Brazil, UK, Holland, France, Italy, Hungary, Ukraine, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, The Philippines, and Australia.

His main Training Programmes focus on Leadership Development, Strategic Planning, Team Building, Sales Team Development, Communications and Presentations.

Working with sports teams

His insights into motivation and performance have also led to him working in the sports arena where he has given regular goal setting and mental strength motivational programmes to a number of GAA teams including the successful Kerry and Cork (football) and Tipperary and Dublin (hurling) teams. Declan is himself a former Ulster Championship medal winner who played senior football with Cavan.

He has also worked with the Kentucky Wildcats when they won the National Basketball title in the USA. He is the author of The Green Platform and Living The Green Platform books.

Qualifications

Declan is a member of the Irish Institute of Training & Development. He holds two masters degrees from Ottawa and St. Paul’s Universities, in Canada, a Certificate in Training and Continuing Education from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, is a Master Practitioner in NLP and a certified Enneagram teacher.