Tara Buckley is the Director General of RGDATA the retail grocers’ trade association that represents 3,000 family owned independent shops throughout Ireland. A former journalist Tara worked for The Sunday Tribune, The Irish Press and was the Evening Press Political Correspondent based in Leinster House. She worked in communications and public affairs for The Rehab Group and Vhi Healthcare before joining the Retail Grocery Dairy & Allied Trades Association. Tara is a member of the Government’s Retail Forum and The Enterprise Forum. She is also on the Garda National Retail Theft Forum; the Central Bank’s National Payments Forum, the Rural Safety Forum and the Food Safety Authority Retail Forum. She is the non-producer retailers’ representative on the Board of Deposit Return Scheme Ireland and a former member of the National Oversight & Audit Commission (NOAC). A strong advocate for local entrepreneurs, family owned businesses and vibrant local communities, Tara was a member of the Advisory Group on Town Centres and advocated for the introduction of the Town Centre First policy. She was one of the founding members with Alison Harvey of the successful Heritage Council Collaborative Town Centre Health Check Programme. A fanatical Ireland and Munster supporter, Tara loves boating around Baltimore and the Islands and planting trees and growing flowers in West Cork.