Board of Directors
Michael Kelly
Chairman
Michael served as Chairman of the Higher Education Authority from 2005-2010. Previous appointments included Deputy Secretary, Dept of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Secretary General, Dept. of Health and Children. He has served on numerous public boards and committees, including the Review Group on Higher Education (2011) and the Task Force on Strategic Innovation (2010). He is a qualified Assessor for SWiFT 3000 and is now self-employed as a consultant (Strategy and Governance) and non-executive director. He is a board member of the ESRI, Arthritis Ireland, Si Re Ltd, GS1(Ire) and RCSI (M and HS). Michael holds a B Comm from UCD and an MSc (Policy Analysis) from TCD. He is a member of the IoD and was a founding member of the Chairs’ Forum. Michael completed the Diploma in Corporate Governance at the UCD Smurfit Business School Centre of Governance in 2007.
Margaret Cullen
Director
Margaret Cullen has over 12 years’ financial services industry experience. She has held senior positions at the Central Bank, JP Morgan Bank Ireland plc and RBC Dexia Investor Services Ireland Limited. Margaret holds a BA in Economics from UCD and an MSc in Investment and Treasury from DCU. She has recently submitted her doctoral dissertation in the area of corporate governance which she completed at the UCD Centre for Corporate Governance / Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. She lectures on the Professional Diploma in Corporate Governance in the areas of executive remuneration and behavioural aspects of boards for the UCD Centre for Corporate Governance. She also lectures for the UCD Institute of Bankers on the MSc in Risk Management and the Graduate Diploma in Financial Services programmes in the areas of corporate governance and ethics. She is a member of the Institute of Directors. Margaret is the founder of Governance Standards, a Dublin-based consultancy focused exclusively on corporate governance and board effectiveness across a range of organisation and sector types.
Eilish Finan
Director
Eilish Finan is an Independent Director and Consultant and specialises in the Financial Services & Property Sectors. Eilish has 20+ years experience in the Financial Services industry. In her earlier career, Eilish worked with KPMG as a chartered accountant. She was CFO & Director of AIG Investments specialising in Investment Management, Fund Management, Trustee & Custodial Services, Securities Lending and Property Development & Asset Management. Her experience covers the breath of a large global business over multiple asset classes and multiple jurisdictions and regulators. She has extensive experience in property investment and property management both in direct property investments and within managed funds. She is a member of the Board of NAMA. Eilish is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and carries a degree in Mathematics and Engineering from Trinity College Dublin. She completed the Diploma in Corporate Governance at the UCD Smurfit Business School Centre of Governance in 2010.
Conall Lavery
Director
Conall Lavery is an entrepreneur, Entropy one of the companies he founded was the leading company in Ireland specialising in IT security. Conall sold Entropy in 2006 to Calyx. In 2000 Conall was shortlisted by Ernst & Young for Entrepreneur of the Year (EoY). Conall has worked in the Communications and IT industry in Ireland since 1986; previously he worked for Motorola, Philips and Marconi. In 2008 Conall founded AscenTrust Limited. AscenTrust provides outsourced accounting services to Irish companies and Not for Profit organisations. Clients are managed by account managers in Ireland and the work is carried out in its back office in India. Conall is a graduate of the Marketing Institute of Ireland. In July 2008 Conall completed the Diploma in Corporate Governance UCD. He is one of the founders of the Irish Internet Association (IIA) and served on the board from February 1997 until November 1998 with responsibility for eCommerce and Security. Conall works with the special interest charity group within the CGAI which is currently helping the community and voluntary sector come up with their own corporate governance code.
Alan McDonnell
Director
Alan is managing director and founder of Empeira Corporate Governance Advisors. Before entering consulting he worked in senior executive positions in the banking, technology and retailing industries. His primary areas of expertise are strategic marketing and corporate governance. He is a Fellow and former national chairman of The Marketing Institute and a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland. Alan holds a post-graduate Diploma in Corporate Governance Programme from UCD and has lectured on the programme in recent years. He is a member of the European Corporate Governance Institute. He is an accredited assessor of corporate governance practices in public or private sector organisations seeking SWiFT 3000 certification.
Amhairgín Ní Laoi
Director / Secretary
Amhairgín is Secretary to the Board, Buildings Manager and Pensions Administrator for the Irish Medicines Board, the regulator for human and veterinary medicinal healthcare products in Ireland. Her career spans the private and public sectors as she has managed departments in Iomega, Compaq, HP, and most recently the Customer Services Centre in Dublin City Council. As a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist, accredited with the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) and the Irish Association for Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP), Amhairgín is Managing Director of her own company, Eva Lee Counselling. Amhairgín holds a BA in Italian and French Language and Literature from UCC. Amhairgín completed the Diploma in Corporate Governance at the UCD Smurfit Business School Centre of Governance in 2007.
Donnchadh Ó Madagáin
Director / Treasurer
Donnchadh is a finance professional with both an accounting and banking background. Since qualifying as an accountant in 1992, he has worked in a number of senior financial oversight and leadership roles across a range of different organisations in the private sector, publicly quoted sector, and public not for profit sectors, including AIB Group, Adare Group, and RTÉ. Donnchadh is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and an Associate of the Irish Tax Institute, and holds a BA in Accounting & Finance from DCU. Donnchadh completed the Diploma in Corporate Governance at the UCD Smurfit Business School Centre of Governance in 2005.
Bob Semple
Director
Bob has been a partner for over 20 years in PricewaterhouseCoopers and currently has responsibility for the firm’s services in Corporate Governance, Risk Management and Compliance. Bob holds a BSc from UCD, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and of the Irish Computer Society. Bob completed the Diploma in Corporate Governance at the UCD Smurfit Business School Centre of Governance in 2008.
Paul A. White
Executive Director
Paul is a founding member of Ireland’s largest indigenous ICT Group, he has held Board and Senior Executive roles for DCC Plc. within the ICT sector in France, the UK, and Ireland. He has significant experience of early stage / start-up businesses, established companies, mergers, acquisitions and disposals. Paul is a graduate of the of the first postgraduate Diploma in Corporate Governance from UCD Michael Smurfit Business School, he has achieved Chartered Director status with the IOD (UK) and is currently Executive Director of the Corporate Governance Association of Ireland. He is a member of the CGAI, the IOD (Irl & UK) and a Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland. Paul is a SWiFT 3000 Corporate Governance Assessor, a Non-Executive Director, business adviser, investor and mentor, he specialises in Board performance evaluation and Corporate Governance services.
