The Dealer was in attendance at an event in Dublin this week to hear Kerry native Bernard Looney discuss his career, and how he rose to become chief executive of BP, the British oil and gas giant. And it seems much of his skills as an engineer were learned during his childhood, where he grew up on a 90ac dairy farm near Kenmare. Looney told the Irish Academy of Engineers it was on the family farm where he first realised he had a talent for engineering.

“Growing up in our small farm just outside of Kenmare we had a lot of challenges in the physical world, I can tell you. Anyone who has tried farming in that part of the world would know what I mean. I do not recommend it, especially if you’d like to make some money,” Looney joked.

“I think we ticked off electrical, chemical, mechanical and civil engineering, sometimes all before we would milk the cows in the morning. Our farm had 90 acres.

“My brother used to tell me that the deeds of the property said that we had 14 acres that were arable. He said, we’ve found eight but we’re still looking for the other six.”