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Colm is a senior strategist in public affairs, reputation and media. Clients come to him when a message has to land, a reputation has to be protected or they want to engage with the political system and get their message across.

He spent more than a decade at the centre of Irish government as a Senior Adviser to Cabinet Ministers, advising them on policy and in parliament, including at the former Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, in the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, and for the Tánaiste. It was work built on deadlines, scrutiny and consequences, from legislation to major announcements.

A large part of Colm’s career was spent working with the Labour Party. He then moved cross-party, and brings that experience of working across party lines to every brief.

He also worked in the technology sector as Public Policy Manager at one of the world’s leading technology companies, where public scrutiny is constant and reputation is a strategic asset.

Credit unions have been a constant. Colm chaired Heritage Credit Union from 2021 to 2025, previously served as an elected director of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) board, and knows credit union governance from the inside.

Colm also serves as a Director of Heritage Credit Union, a Director of the Swoboda Research Centre and a Peace Commissioner.

He co-founded Droichead Consulting, now First Bridge, with Dr Alasdair McDonnell. Colm and Alasdair were delighted to welcome Tiffany Watkins Ahern as their partner. She is a veteran public affairs and stakeholder relations expert with more than 25 years’ experience. Clients get a senior strategist who has shaped policy, run a board and worked inside a global technology company, and who brings that experience to every brief.

Dr Alasdair McDonnell has spent his career at the centre of Northern Ireland politics. He led the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), served as MP for South Belfast in the House of Commons in London for 12 years and sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly for 17. At Westminster he was an active member of the influential Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee.

In Belfast City Hall in the 1990s he was elected Deputy Mayor in 1995, and became a driving force behind the redevelopment and economic recovery of the city, including the Laganside Development Corporation, the Belfast Gasworks and the Waterfront Hall.

He is also a medical doctor. A medical graduate of University College Dublin, Alasdair worked for many years as a family doctor in South Belfast alongside his political career.

Alasdair also founded the Goliath Trust, a charity that funds and supports special education programmes in primary schools in disadvantaged areas, and remains involved in a number of educational initiatives. He has long been committed to a stronger economy built on a robust educational foundation.

His ability to work across party lines, and the extensive network he has built over many years in politics, make him a significant asset for clients: a partner who can bring people from every side to the table.

Tiffany Watkins Ahern is a veteran Republican political strategist whose career spans presidential, US Senate and gubernatorial campaigns, the White House, the Republican National Committee, and senior roles on Capitol Hill and in state government.

She served as Southeast Regional Coalitions Director for President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign, and as Deputy Associate Director of Public Liaison at the White House. She was Deputy Campaign Manager for Senator Jim Talent’s 2006 re-election campaign in Missouri, and Deputy Campaign Manager and CFO for Marco Rubio’s 2010 Senate campaign. In Virginia, she was Deputy Political Director and Director of Coalitions for former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore’s gubernatorial campaign. At the Republican National Committee, she was Northeast Regional Political Director, overseeing a 12-state region.

Her government experience is just as broad. She was Director of the Washington, DC Office for Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Director of Government Affairs for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Congressional Affairs at the US Department of Education, and held key roles at the US Department of Homeland Security.

Tiffany has lived in Dublin for nine years and brings a US perspective to the Irish and EU markets, drawing on her work in Irish public affairs and tech start-ups. She advises clients in financial services, fintech, energy and healthcare, with more than 25 years of experience. Her background with US Senators, Governors, the White House and national campaigns helps clients understand how policy and policymakers work across jurisdictions.

She is a regular guest on RTHK Radio in Hong Kong, commenting on US politics. She has been a guest lecturer at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, contributed to a Belgium-based Public Affairs 101 online course, and appeared in outlets including the Irish Independent, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s in Legal Studies from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

Tiffany joined Colm and Alasdair as a partner, further bolstering the firm’s North American expertise in tandem with its European expertise.