NTR’s Marie Joyce, FCA, tells Accountancy Ireland about her career path to
sustainability and hopes and expectations for Ireland’s renewable energy future
Marie Joyce, FCA, is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer with NTR. Joyce joined the Irish infrastructure investment company in 2004 and was appointed to the role of Deputy Group Chief Financial Officer in 2010, followed by Group Commercial Director two years later. She assumed her current dual role in 2013 and is also an Independent Non-Executive Director to both daa plc and Staycity Group.
QTell us a bit about yourself and why you decided to become a Chartered Accountant.
Growing up on a working farm in rural Ireland in a family with six children, hard work and commitment were ingrained in us from an early age.
I’ve always been passionate about finance and nature, and I feel fortunate that my career allows me to combine both.
That said, my career path wasn’t always clear-cut. I knew I wanted to be challenged every day and work towards something meaningful.
At that time, in 1990s Ireland, the jobs market looked very different to today. Career opportunities were thin on the ground.
I was fortunate to be selected by Arthur Andersen to train with the firm as a Chartered Accountant, and that training would ultimately become the foundation for my entire career.
Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working across multiple sectors, from biotech to infrastructure and now clean energy transition.
What excites me most is navigating fast-paced change—whether it’s driving rapid growth, executing mergers and acquisitions or steering high-pressure restructurings.
The common thread in my career has been the ability to adapt, innovate and lead through transformation.
Q. What does your work as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer with NTR involve?
I have been with the NTR group for over 20 years working across Ireland, the UK and the US. Over the past decade, in particular, I have been instrumental in driving our growth and evolution. My role today with NTR encompasses three main strands of activity:
- Fundraising and acquisitions: product design (investment propositions), supporting fund launches and fundraising (in particular fund structuring, marketing and legal documents, negotiations and investor due diligence), approval of investment bids and acquisitions.
- Financial: managing our funds, including governance and risk, and their underlying investments, as well as investor reporting and investor relations.
- Operations: managing risk, human resources, public relations, legal, information security and digital transformation.
Q. What does NTR do? Tell us about the organisation.
NTR is a specialist renewable energy asset manager with close to five decades’ experience in infrastructure investment and management.
We specialise in acquiring, developing and operating sustainable infrastructure projects, focusing on wind, solar and energy storage across Europe.
We are based in Dublin and currently manage 1.4 gigawatts of energy across 66 locations in seven European countries. We have an additional 500 megawatts in development, totalling €2 billion in invested capital.
Q. What does it mean to you to be part of an organisation with this renewable energy legacy?
NTR’s first investment in renewable energy dates back to 1999, so renewables are truly in our DNA.
I’ve always loved the idea of generating power from natural resources—wind, sun and water—without harming the environment.
Growing up in the countryside in Ballymoe, Co. Galway, we lived off the land, growing our own vegetables and raising our own meat, without fully realising the value of this organic, self-sufficient way of life.
As a society, this is what we need to return to—working with nature rather than against it—and I am proud to be part of NTR, an organisation with a longstanding commitment to clean power.
Q. How important is Ireland’s renewable energy sector to the future of our economy?
I believe Ireland’s renewable energy sector can be instrumental to the future of our economy and climate goals.
The Government’s Climate Action Plan has set targets to reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 51 percent by 2030 and reach climate neutrality by 2050.
These goals are ambitious and the ongoing shift to renewable energy will be crucial in allowing us to achieve them.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought the issue of energy security to the fore for governments across Europe and Ireland is no different.
Greater capacity to generate renewable energy ourselves here in Ireland would reduce our reliance on fossil fuel imports, thereby bolstering our energy security.
Energy demand is rising, driven by the increasing electrification of an expanding economy and rising population. Renewables are the cheapest form of power available to meet this growing demand.
Developing and constructing renewable energy infrastructure also creates direct employment.
Ireland has the potential to become a leader in renewable technologies and energy exports, particularly in offshore wind where we have a seabed 10 times the size of our landmass.
Q. What do we need to do now to support the future of Ireland’s renewable energy sector?
At a national level, faster planning and permitting policies are needed for renewable energy infrastructure.
This is a major hurdle today. If our Climate Action Plan targets are to be met, reform of the planning system is urgently needed.
I would like to see national climate targets embedded in local planning policy. If the development of our renewable energy infrastructure were to be viewed as an overriding public interest, the true potential of renewable deployment in Ireland could be unlocked.
Our grid needs continuous modernisation to meet the growing demands of the economy and accommodate a growing share of intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.
The grid must become more flexible, with greater storage capacity and enhanced interconnectivity with other countries, such as the introduction of new interconnectors like our planned Celtic Interconnector with France.
Q. Who do you most admire in public life today in Ireland or globally?
Pascal Donohoe is a longstanding and skilled politician whose career trajectory I find particularly resonant as we are contemporaries.
His stewardship of Ireland’s economy through multiple crises stands out—from Brexit uncertainties to the COVID-19 pandemic and now, today, we could not be in better hands as he navigates Ireland through US President Donald Trump’s tariff war. His competence combined with measured, thoughtful communication are qualities that have become increasingly valuable in our current era of political polarisation.
Unusually for a politician, he also generally directly answers the questions that are put to him.
Q. What are the three most important lessons you have learned in your own career?
The three most important lessons I’ve learned are:
- You are yourself and that is good enough—embrace your unique strengths, perspectives and style.
- A smile never goes astray—a positive attitude and a warm approach goes a long way.
- Enjoy the journey—life is short, celebrate the wins, get enough sunshine.
Q. What advice do you have for Chartered Accountants starting out in their career today?
Qualifying as a Chartered Accountant provides invaluable professional training that will set you up for life.
When I started my own career, I thought I was simply going to become “an accountant”.
However, what my training actually gave me were the skills to become a rounded business professional.
As my career has progressed, I have been able to extend those skills into shaping, running and advising businesses.
The biggest surprise for me, looking back, is the realisation that my greatest career progress has often come about when things haven’t gone to plan.
Those challenging situations that pushed me outside my comfort zone—forcing me to grow, adapt and develop new skills—were pivotal in taking me to new levels, especially as a woman in finance and infrastructure—which, 30 years ago, was very much a man’s world.
So, my advice to those starting out today is to do your very best, enjoy the experience—and don’t be afraid to ask questions or put your hand up if you think something is not right.
LOADING...