Donal Fahy graduated from the National College of Ireland with a First Class Master’s degree. He has worked for large companies like Oracle Corporation and EY (Ernst & Young).
Experience
Founder & Software Engineer - IrishVPN
02/2026 – Present
A VPN service built with Java, Typescript and SQL. The backend uses WireGuard, Spring, JWT, SMTP and Flyway. The frontend uses Axios and React. Stripe is used for payment handling. Forgejo is used for CI/CD. The URL is https://irish-vpn.com/
- Founder of IrishVPN
- Created the VPN server infrastructure
- Created the irish-vpn.com website
Software Engineer - Oracle
01/2020 – 01/2026
Part of the Systems, Virtualisation, and Operating Systems organisation, working on Oracle Solaris testing and reliability. Designed and delivered multiple Python applications using Django and Flask, including a full replacement of a legacy Java 5 system. Conducted low-level debugging of kernel panics using mdb, contributing to faster root cause analysis and system stability. Played a key role in cloud infrastructure initiatives, including a migration from Mercurial to Git and GitLab. Deployed a cloud based load balancer where no redundancy previously existed, significantly reducing Jenkins failure rates and improving CI reliability. Eliminated a critical database bottleneck by implementing MySQL replication in cloud based containers, resulting in improved scalability and performance. Worked closely within an agile team, collaborating through daily scrums and tools such as Jira, Slack, and Zoom.
- Solaris testing and bug fixes
- Internal application development
Cybersecurity Consultant - EY
05/2019 – 09/2019
Contributed to the development of a cloud governance platform, delivering features to support GDPR compliance and data protection requirements. Built Python components integrating with an Azure Neo4j graph database to model and analyse data relationships, improving visibility into data flows and potential compliance risks. Collaborated with senior engineers to implement scalable solutions aligned with cloud security best practices within a production environment.
System Administrator - Mergon
05/2016 – 08/2018
Maintained IT infrastructure across three international sites, working with Active Directory, Cisco Meraki, and IQMS ERP systems. Provided solutions for automation by developing Python scripts to streamline routine operational tasks, reduce manual intervention, and improve reliability across environments. Designed and developed an internal Java 8 and MySQL 5.7 application to manage factory machine maintenance, including reporting capabilities for management, reducing reliance on manual tracking and improving operational visibility. Installed and configured hardware infrastructure, including on-premises servers and network equipment. Supported cybersecurity by providing incident response strategies and infrastructure monitoring. Demonstrated troubleshooting capability by debugging a Windows XP industrial controller using OllyDbg, to identify software limitations.
- IQMS ERP introduction
- Internal Java 8 and MySQL 5.7 application
Skills
- Languages: Python, Java, SQL, C, Shell, JavaScript, TypeScript
- Frameworks: FastAPI, Flask, Django, Spring, React, NextJS
- Systems: Linux, Debian, Fedora, Plasma, POSIX, Unix, Solaris, Android
- Testing: JUnit, Mockito, PyTest, unittest, Jest
- Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, H2, MariaDB, Redis
- Tools: Git, Docker, Kubernetes, GitLab, Docker, Podman
- Cloud: AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda), Azure, OCI
- Concepts: Distributed systems, concurrency, performance tuning, observability
- Cybersecurity: Secure Coding, Penetration Testing, Reverse Engineering
Education
National College of Ireland – Dublin (2018-2019)
- MSc in Cybersecurity – First Class Honours
College of Computing Technology – Dublin (2015-2018)
- BSc in Information Technology – First Class Honours
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure – Certified Generative AI Professional (2024)
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure – Certified DevOps Professional (2023)