Agent to the stars Noel Kelly sees profits more than double in 2022

Accumulated profits at NK Management – whose clients include Ryan Tubridy, Pat Kenny, Dermot Bannon and Claire Byrne – push past €900,000

Noel Kelly's high-profile clients from TV and radio include RTÉ's Claire Byrne. Photograph: Andres Poveda/RTÉ

Profits after tax at the Dublin management agency that represents a host of stars from Irish TV and radio more than doubled to €404,085 last year.

NK Management represents the likes of Pat Kenny, Ryan Tubridy, Dermot Bannon, Claire Byrne and Joe Duffy among others.

The business is led by chief executive Noel Kelly, and new accounts for his Cleary Consultancy Ltd show that the firm recorded post-tax profits of €404,085 in the 12 months to the end of March, more than double the previous year. Accumulated profits now stand at €901,827.

The firm declined to comment on the accounts.

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The firm’s cash funds last year decreased sharply from €831,617 to €228,009, and this was offset by the amount owed by debtors to the company increasing from €722,183 to €1.589 million.

At the end of March, the company had shareholder funds of €1.01 million. Numbers employed at the company remained at nine, comprising two in management and seven in administration.

The 60-year-old Mr Kelly shuns the limelight but is one of the best-known names in the Irish broadcasting industry and is often employed by his clients to negotiate new contracts on their behalf with the likes of RTÉ.

Mr Kelly has previously said he is “not interested in the limelight. I like the fact that I can get on the Luas and nobody knows who I am or what I do.”

Mr Kelly has also served as a long-time director on the board of Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children International charity.

The firm’s client list reads like a who’s who of Irish celebrity and also includes Dave Fanning, Matt Cooper, Ivan Yates, Baz Ashmawy, Niall Quinn, Kian Egan and Dermot Whelan.

Others include Doireann Garrihy, Kathryn Thomas, Catriona Perry and Sonia O’Sullivan. Mr Kelly also represented the late Gerry Ryan and today represents the broadcaster’s daughter, 2FM presenter Lottie Ryan.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times