Julia Hayhoe

Independent Chair, NED and Board Advisor

Julia is an independent Chair, NED and board advisor, enabling ambitious 'people businesses' to achieve strategic, sustainable growth. She brings extensive international and national board experience: Former International & London executive board member; Partner & Head of London office in a boutique professional services strategy consultancy, which she successfully sold with the founders to Thomson Reuters, and now holds a portfolio of NEDs, Advisory Boards, and strategy consultancy.

Ruth Odih

Assistant Company Secretary at Centrica Plc

Ruth Odih is a key member of the Secretariat Team at Centrica plc. Her experience is in UK and international corporate governance practices. Her experiences range from large multinationals to large UK-based organisations in catering, energy, oil and gas, private equity and financial services, with some of the organisations being constituents in the FTSE 100 and AIM index. She is a trustee of a local charity and has a Degree and Masters in law.

Tony McPoland

Independent Professional Director

Tony has twenty-five years of experience in the financial services industry and served ten years on the board of directors of LBBW Bank with executive responsibility for finance, operations, risk and IT. He has become an independent professional director and sits on the boards of eleven companies. He is also a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Bob Semple

Non-executive director

Bob Semple has more than 40 years business experience working as an accountant, auditor and management consultant. For 36 years, he worked in PricewaterhouseCoopers where, most recently, he was partner responsible for governance and risk management services. He now works as a director and as an independent consultant specialising in governance, risk management and board effectiveness reviews. Bob is a Chartered Accountant, a Chartered Director and a Certified Psychometric Evaluator.

Lamé Verre

Head of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, SSE PLC

Lamé Verre is an award-winning Energy Executive with over two decades of working across the Energy Industry value chain in several geographies with global blue-chip companies and entrepreneurial ventures. She is currently Head of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability across the customer businesses in the UK and Ireland at SSE PLC, an FTSE 100 company.

Stephen L. Brown

Senior Advisor & Managing Director, KPMG Board Leadership Center

Stephen L. Brown is a globally recognized governance professional, thought leader and trusted advisor to corporate boards and C-suites. He is a Senior Advisor & Managing Director at KPMG Board Leadership Center where he advises business leaders on key corporate governance challenges.

Dr Len Konar

International NED and Governance Educator

Dr Len Konar is a Chartered Accountant and was previously executive director of the Independent Development Trust where he was responsible for the Internal Audit and Investments Portfolios. Prior to that, he was Professor and Head of the Department of Accountancy at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (then Durban-Westville). He also lectured to graduate students at various South African Universities. Dr Konar is a past independent non-executive director of various companies internationally.

Paul White

Founding member of the Corporate Governance Association of Ireland

Paul is a founding member of Ireland’s largest indigenous ICT company DCC Technology. He has held board and senior executive roles for DCC Plc in France, the UK, and Ireland. He is a founding member of the Corporate Governance Association of Ireland (CGAI) and is currently the chair of the Children’s Medical Research Foundation Crumlin.

Annabel Bannerman

Group General Counsel, Bakkavor Group

Annabel Tagoe-Bannerman brings a wealth of legal expertise as Group general Counsel and Company Secretary at Bakkavor Group, alongside her role as a Non-Executive Director at Edinburgh Investment Trust PLC. With a background as a qualified corporate and commercial solicitor, she has served in executive committee roles and as a chartered company secretary. Her contributions to FTSE 250 companies underscore her insights into effective boardroom dynamics and governance.

Sharon Conastançon

CEO of Genius Boards

Sharon Constançon is an experienced executive and non-executive director. She is CEO of Genius Boards and Genius Methods – the Genius Group, that offers tailored, behaviour and leadership focused board evaluations, training and mentoring services. Sharon is a Chartered Director, Chartered Secretary and has an MBA.

Jenny Pattwell

Partner, EY Financial Services Consulting

Jenny Pattwell is a Partner with EY’s EMEIA Financial Services Consulting practice in Ireland with over 20 years of experience in the FS industry. She is known for bringing practical insights and fresh perspectives to each assignment, where she focuses on large scale FS transformations, Risk Management, Regulatory Advisory and Data & Analytics.

Mairéad Butler

Chartered Accountant and Non-profit Director

Mairéad Butler is a Chartered Accountant and has spent most of her career in financial services in Dublin and Sydney, working in risk, compliance and communications roles. She is a Director of Ireland’s National Maternity Hospital and An Cosán, a charity focused on education as a pathway out of poverty.

David W Duffy

Founder & CEO, Corporate Governance Institute

David is the founder and CEO of the Corporate Governance Institute, an experienced board member, governance consultant and a leading author on corporate governance. David is considered an innovator in governance research and engagement and is an authority on global, board-related matters.

Caitríona Somers

Independent Director, Financial Services

Caitríona spent ten years as the CEO of the Irish subsidiary of Cunningham Lindsey Group and was a member of the executive global leadership team. A chartered director and fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters, she holds several independent director positions within the financial services sector.

Diarmaid O’Corrbui

CEO of Carmichael

Diarmaid is the CEO of Carmichael, a leading specialist training and support body for nonprofits in Ireland. He is a former executive board director and company secretary and a certified technical corporate governance assessor with the National Standards Authority of Ireland’s Swift 3000 code of practice for corporate governance assessment.

Gerry Egan

Chairman and Nonprofit Director

Gerry is an experienced chairman, company director and company secretary with over 30 years of experience in a commercial state company where he held several senior executive roles and led significant transformation programmes. He currently serves on the boards of Carmichael and Dóchas.

Noel Ford

Governance Consultant and Director

Noel Ford MBA, CIFD, CMC is a vastly experienced executive and non-executive director, international governance, risk and compliance consultant and author. He currently serves as principal and director with Governance Ireland and serves on many international and domestic boards.

Dr Sean O'Reilly

Assistant Professor in Accountancy, UCD

Seán is an Assistant Professor in Accountancy at University College Dublin and acts as Academic Director of the Masters of Accounting programme at Smurfit Business School. Seán held the role of Head of the Accountancy Department at Technological University Dublin prior to his role at UCD. Seán has extensive experience lecturing executive education and is a lecturer on the FAE programme for Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Donal Keane

Corporate Finance and Strategy Consultant

Donal’s primary areas of expertise are corporate finance, strategy development, project management and corporate governance. Donal has served as management consultant to the financial services, technology, retail, property and voluntary sectors. Prior to this he served as a senior executive in the Public Sector. He holds an International Masters in Management Degree from the European School of Management in Paris (ESCP) and an MBA from Purdue University, Indiana.

Robert Farrell

Lecturer and Digital Transformation Trainer

Robert is on a mission to improve digital transformation globally by developing the next generation of leaders. He is a lecturer, trainer and speaker specializing in Digital Transformation. Robert has delivered training to audiences including Google, HubSpot, Citibank, DocuSign, Amplexor and many more. He holds a postgraduate diploma in digital transformation, a masters in strategic management and several digital marketing certifications.

Eoghan Daly

Director of Cybersecurity, BDO

Eoghan is a Director with BDO and leads the firm’s cybersecurity work. His experience includes helping organisations to improve their approach to the identification, assessment and management of cybersecurity risks. His experience includes working with organisations in Mining, Education, Pensions, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Government, and Not-for-Profit sectors. He is a board member of the Royal Society of Public Health’s Food Special Interest Group.