Patrick Cosgrave otherwise known as Paddy Cosgrave is an Irish entrepreneur who was a co-founder of Web Summit, an annual technology conference.
In 2015, he was listed 18th in the Wired UK list of the most influential people in Europe in the field of technology.
Cosgrave grew up on a farm in County Wicklow.
He was educated at Glenstal Abbey School and Trinity College Dublin, where he studied Business, Economics, and Social Studies (BESS).
While at Trinity he was president of the University Philosophical Society (The Phil) and editor of Piranha, a satirical college magazine.
During his presidency of The Phil, the society introduced Phil Speaks, an outreach initiative aimed at promoting debating and public speaking in Irish secondary schools.
Cosgrave graduated with a II-1 BA from Trinity College, Dublin’s BESS program in 2006. This Article talks about his love life and his wife, Faye Dinsmore.
Patrick Cosgrave Career
Cosgrave was the executive director of Rock the Vote Ireland, a campaign launched in April 2007 to encourage young people to vote in the May 2007 Irish general election.
He was a co-founder of MiCandidate, a website that “provided detailed information on every candidate running in the 2007 general election”.
The company was sold for “an undisclosed sum” in October 2009.
In 2008, he was involved with the foundation of an Irish Undergraduate Awards scheme.
Cosgrave is a co-founder of the Web Summit and F.ounders conferences.
Cosgrave was awarded the 2015 Irish Exporters Association annual gold medal.
He was listed 18th in the 2015 Wired UK list of the “100 most influential individuals in the wider Wired world”.
Cosgrave is an Ambassador for the European Innovation Council for the years 2021–2027.
Patrick Cosgrave Controversy
Cosgrave was appointed to the Higher Education Authority board in March 2012.
In 2014, Cosgrave, who was still on the board, stated that his organization would hire graduates who had earned first class honors degrees from most colleges as long as they also obtained II.1 degrees from Trinity College Dublin, which was Cosgrave’s grade.
Rejecting Cosgrave’s remarks, the Higher Education Authority issued an official statement. After that, in 2015, Cosgrave left the board.
Cosgrave had to issue an apology in 2015 after claiming wrongly to have created the Tito ticketing app.
In 2018, the IDA sponsored a cocktail party for about 200 company CEOs during the Collision tech conference in New Orleans.
Paddy Cosgrave was standing next to a senior female IDA executive who was giving a brief welcoming speech when he started “slow clapping,” according to former Web Summit director David Kelly.
The IDA called the purported incident “particularly regrettable” in an email.
Under Cosgrave’s direction, the Web Summit has also been involved in a number of controversy: its relocation from Dublin to Lisbon, the planning of a banquet at Portugal’s National Pantheon, and the later withdrawal of Marine Le Pen’s speaker invitation.
On October 21, 2023, Cosgrave announced his resignation as CEO of Web Summit due to remarks he had made regarding Israel during the 2023 Hamas War.
Patrick Cosgrave Wife
Patrick Cosgrave’s wife is Faye Dinsmore. For €1,800,000 in 2022, Cosgrave acquired property in Rossnowlagh, County Donegal, as well as a mansion in Georgia. The couple and their son had previously shared a spacious Dublin home.
