About Us

Central Copy Clearance Ireland Ltd (CCCI) trading as CopyClear, is a separate independent company with its own board of Directors, and is not a subsidiary of any other company or organisation. It was established in 2003, and was an initiative proposed following extensive discussions between the Association of Advertisers in Ireland (AAI), the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI) and the main alcohol-producing and marketing companies at the time.

CopyClear is funded by Drinks Industry Ireland (DII) and operates independently of DII. The CopyClear board is made up of nine members, four each of whom are nominated by the AAI and IAPI respectively, plus an independent Chairperson. None of the nominees come from the alcohol industry. CopyClear has no influence on, or input to, the codes – our role is to interpret and apply the codes as they stand.

Who Are We?

Experience is central to the CopyClear Advisors. All of us involved have a background in the industry, either in agencies or as advertisers, in a wide range of roles. We are therefore in a position to empathise with the pressures, challenges and urgency involved in meeting media deadlines.

Cost per Submission

There is a charge for each submission. Based on the average cost of submissions over the past 3 years, we can estimate, from a budgeting perspective, that the projected cost per submission in 2024 would be €30/€31. This is a guide. It is also important to stress the requirement to include responsibility messaging in each submission. Failure to do so means that the submission is rejected and must be submitted again at an additional cost to the user.

 Actual costs per submission for the period January-December 2024 will be confirmed when the overall totals are available.

Meet the Board

Chair

Dara McMahon, Senior Marketing & Communications Specialist

AAI

Barry Dooley, CEO, AAI

Cian Corbett, Digital Content Marketing Manager, AIB

Robyn O’Mara, CMO Electric Ireland Superhomes

Gill Blake Swift, Director of Brand & Advertising, BoyleSports

IAPI

Siobhán Masterson, CEO, IAPI

Zoe Scraggs, Account Director, Folk VML

 

Meet the Advisors

 

Joe Clancy

Joe spent 10 years in London following Q.P.R. and worked in advertising with Brunnings and the Young & Rubicam Group to support this addiction. He returned to Ireland to rediscover his Munster Rugby roots and joined Hunter (Saatchi & Saatchi), later becoming MD at Bates and Red Cell, and then CEO of Young & Rubicam Dublin. He has managed campaigns for iconic brands such as Land Rover, Smirnoff, Baileys, Club Orange, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Bayer and Zanussi, that have won awards at CLIO, NNI, ICAD, PAA and IAPI ADFX. His involvement in Munster’s two Heineken Cup Final victories however was in a purely supportive role. He served on the Council of The Marketing Institute and is a former Board Member of Central Copy Clearance Ireland.

 

Denis Goodbody

Denis Goodbody has been a copywriter and communications strategist since the mid-1980s, working with: McConnells, DDFH&B, QMP, The Helme Partnership (Creative Director), and HDM Dechy in Brussels. He co-founded Adept Advertising in 1996 and has been an independent consultant since 2011. Along the way he’s been President of ICAD, a board member of IAPI, and has won his share of awards: ICAD, Shark, Posters, Clio, Mobius, Epica. Clients have included: Most banks, most cars, most major breweries, Masterfoods, P&G, Unilever, Apple, Microsoft, IDL and many more. Most proud of? Probably The Euro Changeover and Mary McAleese’s presidential campaign. Outside of advertising he has a weekly music show on 103.2 Dublin City FM, has publish two books and has co-written a few songs that weren’t jingles!

 

Lynne Tracey

Lynne Tracey started out in the Advertising Industry in a salmon-colour linen suit and a black briefcase – well it was the 1980s and that’s her excuse. Despite the sartorial lapse, Lynne managed to find work and spent her career working in Agencies such as Campaign Advertising and McCann-Erickson in New York. She moved back to Dublin as a founding Director of McCann-Erickson Dublin and subsequently moved to the Javelin Group where she was a Board Director. Lynne is a past President of IAPI and has served on the Board of the ASAI and CCCI. Lynne currently lectures on the DIT MSc in Advertising and has been a Clearance Manager with CCCI for five years.

Brian Whelan

Brian comes from the “below the line” side of the marketing world, having worked as a public relations consultant for over 20 years.  After a period traveling the world in the bloodstock industry, Brian returned to the mainstream and joined Drury Communications, straddling both corporate and brand communications strategies for seven years.  He went out on his own in the ’90’s setting up Zelos Communications and later, sister company, Kratos, a web and software developer. Together Zelos & Kratos delivered traditional and digital communications services to clients and also provided a platform from which to develop and launch several award winning online innovations.  He has exited most of these ventures now and returns to where it all started: communications.  Brian understands the power of words and images and how constantly shifting technologies can persuade and cajole, consciously or unconsciously.