WHEN Downings man Declan MacFadden left boarding school in Coláiste na Croise Naofa, Falcarragh, he stepped out into the world, by his own admission, as green as the fields.
He would go on to study bio-chemistry in University College, Galway, before work took him to a variety of jobs in Dublin, Kilkenny and Cork. He would then move to Holland for 8 years before heading to Jakarta, Indonesia, settling in Singapore in 1998 with his wife and six children.
Today, he splits his time between Singapore and Ireland, passing on a wisdom built up over more than forty years working with top global players in food technology who specialised in Food Ingredients, Flavours, Probiotics etc.
He also enjoys helping companies, especially start-ups, who want to start expanding their sales footprint into Asia and networking with young Irish people when they first arrive in Singapore.
Singapore has a very vibrant Irish community and Declan has been actively involved as Vice-chairman of the Singapore Gaelic Lions GAA club.
He has also been a leading member for many years of the Singapore Ireland Chamber of Commerce and the Singapore Ireland Fund.
He also sits on the Advisory Board of a Swiss flavours company that was one of his competitors for many years.
Speaking to the Donegal News this week, Declan said that he is enjoying retired life and his voluntary work while he also keeps fit through running, cycling and visiting the gym.
“I have some small investments in Ireland and I do some consulting with firms from Ireland who want to do business in Asia – especially in food, nutrition and adjacent areas,” he said.
Declan is also hoping to play his part in creating more start-up jobs in Donegal and recently took part in a series of workshops aimed at helping entrepreneurs.
“Donegal as a county is way behind the rest of the country when it comes to providing the energy needed for start-ups. We’ve been so badly hit by emigration compared to other places and there’s not the same ecosystem and support for start-ups that I see elsewhere in the country,” he said.

One of ten children, Declan attended Derryhassan National School (where his late father Jack was principal) before going off to boarding school in Falcarragh.
“I got good academic training there (Falcarragh) but precious little else before going off to Galway on a Gaeltacht scholarship. I decided that I would do anything that I wasn’t studying in Falcarragh.
“Paul Breslin, son of the late Ceann Comhairle, Cormac Breslin, came to the school to teach science but, sadly, he died after a few months and they couldn’t get a replacement science teacher. He was a great guy and he stimulated me to do science.
“I started off in Galway hardly knowing what H2O was but through extra grinds at night I managed to come through with a honours degree in bio-chemistry,” he recalled.
Two years as a biochemical analyst with Warner Lambert in Dublin, who made diagnostic kits for hospital labs followed before he landed his dream job.
“Arthur Guinness was looking for a trainee brewer in Smithwicks Brewery, Kilkenny, and, being a risk-taker from Downings, I threw in my application,” he laughed.
He stayed there for almost six years, married a local lady, Anne, before he was head-hunted by a Scottish ex-brewer to become general manager of a new biotech start-up, Biocon Biochemicals, in Cork.
“There, I learned a huge amount about running a small business. You quickly learn the cost of everything, how to price products, how to manage people and how to sell,” he recalled.

“My happiest moments are always out in front of the customer, trying to convince them to buy our products. You can have the greatest ideas in the world but if you can’t sell them you might as well close up shop,” he added.
When that company was sold to Unilever in the late 1980s, Declan transferred to its headquarters in Holland where he took over their Bioproducts Division.
When they decided to sell off their Business-to-business interests to ICI, Declan and his family moved to Asia to become President of their Asia Pacific Flavours business.
“With B2B companies you’re providing ingredients and flavours to the major multi national companies who manufacture the leading brands that you eat and drink every day at home. It’s like being the ‘Intel inside’ and the key factor in making these products preferred by consumers,” he explained.
When Declan arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia, in early 1998 it coincided with the Asian currency crisis and the subsequent shootings and rioting on the streets as the dictatorship of President Suharto was being challenged.
“Their currency went through the floor overnight and our HQ back in London wanted us all evacuated out of Jakarta, so there we were, with six kids, among 100,000 people trying to get out of there. We finally got into Singapore, via Kuala Lumpur, on May 19, 1998 and I’m still there today,” he said.
In 2005, he left ICI and moved to Symrise, a new emerging German company aiming to be a global leader in Flavours & Fragrances, where he managed the Asia Pacific region with its 800 employees for nine years.
“When I turned sixty I decided that it was time to step down. That was in 2014,” he said.

“I haven’t stepped away completely though. I continue to do advisory work and help out, where I can, with companies and people who wish to set up a presence in Singapore. All I ask is that in five to ten years’ time they too pay it forward and help anyone else who is in a similar situation to which they found themselves when the first arrived,” he said.
Declan is a keen student of politics and keeps a close eye on events back home.
“Ireland has changed utterly since I first moved away but, within politics, I would like to see more co-operation across the parties. I’m very annoyed at the constant negativity of the politicians and media whenever you turn on the radio or television. Nobody ever seems to focus on the successes and great things that are going on.
“Ireland is a great country and I talk highly about it when I’m overseas. There’s many issues that should have been sorted out years ago and it’s everyone’s responsibility not just whoever is in government at that moment.
“A Christmas Day giveaway from the government or the opposition is not going to sort this out. We need some real strategy and, as I learned in my business life, it’s a matter of making choices and sometimes very difficult choices. It is not just knowing what to do but, equally, knowing what not to do. One thing I’ve learned over the years in business is that you can’t be all things to all people and we as a country have a huge difficulty in being able to say what we will stop whilst advocating alternative choices,” he said.
Admitting that he had learned few, if any, life skills by the time he left secondary school, Declan urged young people to try things and not to be over analysing. Most times it’s better to do your homework, decide what to do and get on with it.
“Get some good friends in your life. Good friends, socially, and also those mentors who will give you advice when you have decided what you would like to do with your life. Have the guts to say that you don’t have all the answers.
“There’s huge levels of anxiety and depression out there among young people today and that worries me. Take a chance but make sure you have friends in your life to share your doubts. They will tell you they too had the same doubts. None of us are immune to that….
“I didn’t know where my life was going to lead me as a young lad coming out of Downings. I just took a chance, talked to people and quickly made a decision.

“Today, a lot of young people spend their time on the phone, on their own, in seclusion. I joke to my kids and others that in our day we had a thing called a ‘conversation’. When you bumped into someone at a bus station or on a plane or in the street you would say hello and just start to shoot the breeze.
“I’ve had the most interesting conversations in the middle of nowhere with people who I might never have got to know had I kept my mouth shut.
“Do I ask a lot of questions? Yes. Do I put myself out there? Yes. I also make myself vulnerable but don’t be afraid to show that concern or worry. Talk to as many people as possible and don’t have one fixed rigid way of looking at things – just go with the flow.
“Work smart and always be there to help people in your workplace. I always want employees who were willing to give a hand if a colleague was having a bad day. These are things that many people have forgotten how to do.
“I left Donegal with little except ambition to do well but I kept asking and learning and making mistakes that I learnt from.
Four years ago Declan lost his wife, Anne, to a very aggressive glioblastoma brain tumour. Three of his children live in London with one each in Dublin, Washington DC and Singapore.
“I’m just happy meeting and helping people in any way I can. I love Ireland and am now lucky to have a new partner in my life as we split our time between Singapore and Galway. It’s a great place but I also miss the heat so I will continue to mix the two countries, Covid permitting ! ” he said.