Derek was born in Cork and attended The National University of Ireland (University College Cork) and the University of Dublin (Trinity College). He serves as a Business Mentor and Business Adviser to start-up businesses in medical devices and diagnostics in the Philadelphia region. He divides his time between the United States (Wilmington, Delaware) and Ireland (Cork).

Derek has been a member of the American License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA) since 1978. His membership number is 2441. He attends regional meets in the US North-East and Chesapeake regions. He has attended the Annual Conventions held in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2016, in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 2018, and in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2019.

He is a contributor to ALPCA’s Plates Magazine and has authored four articles:  License Plates of Colombia (Plates Magazine, Vol 63, No 6, p 30,  2017); On the Road in New Zealand (Plates Magazine, Vol 64, No 4, pp 26-27, 2018), 1903-86 Series Plates of the Republic of Ireland, (Plates Magazine, Vol 64, No 5, pp 10-11, 2018),and 115 Years…….and Still Counting! License Plates of Northern Ireland (Plates Magazine, Vol 65, No 1, p21,2019).