The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), the independent self-regulatory body committed to promoting the highest standards of marketing communications in Ireland, is delighted to announce the appointment of two new members to their Board:

• Constance Balsamo, Head of Alcohol Policy and Public Affairs at Diageo Ireland
• Bob Hughes, Executive Director of Local Ireland, the association which represents 42 paid-for weekly news publishers around the country

The Board of the ASAI is responsible for managing the business of the organisation and for drawing up and implementing the Code of Standards for advertising and marketing communications in Ireland. Constance and Bob will work with the ASAI Board in conjunction with their day-to-day roles.

Constance Balsamo is the Head of Alcohol Policy and Public Affairs at Diageo Ireland, and was previously Diageo’s Head of the EU Internal Market in Brussels. In her current role, Constance focuses on alcohol regulation and drives the development and implementation of responsible drinking initiatives while also overseeing marketing compliance. Prior to joining Diageo, she spent a number of years in Brussels and Zurich, where she worked with global communications agency Kreab, and as a public policy advisor with financial services firm UBS. A French national, Constance holds a bachelor degree in Chinese language and civilisation and a Masters degree in social science and economics.

Bob Hughes has recently been appointed as Executive Director of Local Ireland, the association which represents 42 paid-for weekly news publishers around the country. Before taking up the role, Bob Hughes worked a Special Adviser across two departments in the last Government.

He began his career in weekly and daily journalism in the UK, was a sub-editor with the Press Association in Fleet Street, a producer for Channel 4 News at ITN, a programme editor with Reuters and Sky, an editor at Radio Ireland/Today FM, Deputy Director of TV3 News Ireland for 16 years and a consultant in strategic management and media, working in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The ASAI has also welcomed the appointment of two new members to the Complaints Committee

• Celene Craig, Deputy Chief Executive of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI)
• Paula Kelly, Head of Account Management, TBWA/Dublin.

Both Celene and Paula will now work on the ASAI’s Independent Complaints Committee in conjunction with their existing roles within the BAI and TBWA respectively.

The Complaints Committee is a completely independent arm of the ASAI and is responsible for considering and adjudicating on complaints submitted by the public, by an organisation, by a Government Department or any other person or body. The Committee is made up of a range of experts from the advertising, media, education, consumer and marketing sectors.

Celene Craig is currently Deputy Chief Executive of the BAI, a role which she has held since its establishment in 2009, in addition to having worked with its predecessors the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) and the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC). A significant dimension of her work in the BAI has been her responsibilities for the formulation and review of a wide range of broadcasting/media-related policies and for advising on the implementation of legislative and policy changes in the audiovisual field at national and European levels. Most recently, Celene has led the development of the BAI’s Policy Position on the Implementation of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive and on the Regulation of Harmful Content on Online Platforms.

Paula Kelly has over 20 years’ experience in business, brand and communication development, and is currently Head of Account Management, TBWA/Dublin. Having worked for a number of years in PR and technology, Paula joined TBWA (then Cawley Nea\TBWA) in 1998 and was appointed Head of Account Management in 2004.

Welcoming the appointments, Orla Twomey, Chief Executive of the ASAI, said:

“We’re delighted to welcome Constance, Bob, Celene and Paula to their new roles. All appointments bring a wealth of experience and insights from their respective careers and illustrate the high calibre of talent contributing to the ASAI’s Board and Complaints Committee. On behalf of myself, our Chairman Sean O’Meara and the ASAI executive, we would like to wish Constance, Bob, Celene and Paula the very best of luck in their new roles. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing members, Tom Morgan, Edel McCabe, Johnny O’Hanlon and Michael O’Keeffe for their contributions to the ASAI.”

The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland is financed by the advertising industry and committed, in the public interest, to promoting the highest standards of marketing communications that is advertising, promotional marketing and direct marketing. The objective is to ensure that all commercial marketing communications are ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’.

The Code covers commercial marketing communications and sales promotions in all media in Ireland including digital (online banners, websites and social platforms), print, outdoor, radio, TV, leaflets/brochures, and direct marketing.

Further information on advertising self-regulation, the ASAI and the operation

of the system is available at  www.asai.ie

Follow the ASAI on Twitter @THE_ASAI

For further details, please contact:

Breda Brown / Clodagh Foley

Unique Media

Tel: (01) 522 5200 or (085) 865 8019 (CF)