SECTION COMMUNITY
SEAN FALLON INTERVIEW AUGUST 2020
AN INTERVIEW WITH CAUSEWAY’S TREASURER AND CELTIC FC FOUNDATION’S MAJOR DONORS MANAGER, SEAN FALLON ON HIS CAREER JOURNEY IN FINANCE, TO RETURNING TO HIS ROOTS WITH CELTIC FC FOUNDATION
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ean Fallon has had a long career in banking and finance and has been involved with Causeway: Scotland Ireland Business Exchange, since it launched at Edinburgh Castle in 2016. Born and bred in Glasgow, like many from the City, Sean is of Irish heritage, with a father who was born in Sligo and immigrated to Glasgow in 1950, through his career as a professional footballer with Celtic FC. Established in 1887, Celtic FC was formed for the purpose of alleviating poverty among the immigrant community of Glasgow’s East End, and is today a world-renowned Scottish football club, with strong Irish roots. For Sean, growing up in Glasgow with an Irish father who had played for and was Assistant Manager at Celtic FC, the Club became a strong part of his childhood, as Sean reflects: “My father played for Celtic throughout the 1950s, scoring the winning goal in the 1954 Scottish Cup Final and playing in the League Cup Final in 1957, when Celtic beat Rangers 7-1. I started to attend matches when I was just five-years-of-age and spent a lot of time at Celtic Park. You could say that I was born into Celtic Football Club!” Although they may share the same name, Sean’s career took a very different path to his father’s, and Sean went down the financial sector route, achieving a 30 year banking career
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NETWORKS
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in various senior roles with Allied Irish Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. It was in his role as Senior Manager with the AIB Business Centre in Edinburgh that he became involved with the other founders of the Causeway and helped organise its launch at Edinburgh Castle in 2016. Looking back on the early days of the Causeway network and the key role the network has today in linking Irish-Scottish businesses, Sean expounds: “I was involved with Causeway from the beginning. I have always enjoyed networking and the aim of Causeway is fantastic. When I help deliver on our objectives – helping Irish or Scottish businesses to expand and prosper – it is extremely satisfying. Being Causeway’s Treasurer and a member of the legal board, provides me with the opportunity to give a bit back. “Since the beginning, Causeway has been about sharing ideas and collaborating and I have found the network provides a great opportunity to learn from other professionals and business people. The learnings may reinforce that you are doing the right things, however, it may lead you to consider and implement adjustments to maximise your business. It also provides a platform to share contacts from the public and private sectors. “What I enjoy in being part of the Causeway network, is hearing about the successes and challenges of being in business.
