Richard Martin

Mr Martin recently commenced his third term as managing partner of RDJ, a position he has held since 2012.

A graduate of University College Cork and Nottingham Trent University, he qualified as a solicitor in 1991 and first made partner at RDJ in 1995.

Outside of RDJ, he is a director of the Cork University Hospital Charity and of the Glucksman Gallery at UCC. He is also chair of the Barryscourt Trust and a member of the board of management of An Scoil Nasiunta an Chroi Naofa. He is a former director and secretary of Cork Chamber.

In a video message marking his appointment, Mr Martin reflected on his business experience and his family ties to Johnson & Perrott CEO Mark Whitaker.

He said: “I’m hugely looking forward to joining the board of the Johnson & Perrott Motor Group as a non-executive director. I’m doing this because I sincerely hope that I can bring some value – perhaps through my independence, through some different lens around objectivity.

“I’ve been involved in managing a business in Cork, Dublin and Galway for about 10 years now, a business that currently employs about 260 people.”

He added: “I’m not entirely unconnected with the Whitaker family – James Whitaker, Mark Whitaker’s grandfather, who took over the running of the company in 1920s, was in fact a brother of my own grandfather, Samuel John Whitaker, so there’s some connection there.

“I bought my first car from Mark’s father David in Emmett Place about 35 years ago.

“So, I’m hugely looking forward to joining the board of what is clearly an extremely successful company. Mark and the entire team of Johnson & Perrott have done an amazing job over the years in bringing the company to where it is today.”