Gabriel Makhlouf
Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland since 2019 and an ECB Governing Council member.
In a Dublin speech on 2 November 2026, Gabriel Makhlouf credited AI investment with lifting Ireland's domestic activity, then warned that the scale of debt financing behind it is a risk to financial stability.
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Gabriel Makhlouf took up the governorship of the Central Bank of Ireland on 1 September 2019. He chairs the Central Bank Commission, sits on the Governing Council of the European Central Bank and the European Systemic Risk Board, and is Ireland's Alternate Governor at the IMF. In March 2026 Dublin put his name forward to stay on for another seven years, with the new term starting on 1 September 2026.
Before Dublin he was Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury from 2011 to 2019, after a career in the UK civil service.
His November 2026 remarks matter because Ireland hosts much of Europe's hyperscaler data-centre activity, so a pullback in AI spending would reach its economy quickly. He named both the size of the borrowing and the circularity of some financing. Credit markets had already priced strain at one AI borrower, Oracle, before he spoke.
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 6 November 2026. Editorial standards.