Governance Ireland Conference 2025

Tracey Brady is an accomplished governance professional with over 25 years of experience in the Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) sector. She has recently joined Diligent as Vice President of Corporate Services, where she will oversee the development and management of Diligent’s Corporate Secretarial Services, which launched in January 2025.

Before joining Diligent, Tracey held a leadership role at KPMG, where she headed the UK company secretarial and global entity management practice. Her career began in 1999 as a company secretary in the fund management sector, later transitioning to the listed company arena, where she developed significant expertise in boardroom governance and corporate transactions.

In 2014, Tracey took on the role of Managing Director at Company Matters, a division of Link Group. Under her leadership, the business earned industry recognition for its excellence in corporate governance services. Tracey’s extensive experience and insight into the GRC landscape position her as a trusted leader, driving innovation and best practices in corporate governance

John joined the ISPCC in August 2018 having spent the previous 13 years in CEO roles within the not-for-profit sector. Prior to this, John spent 16 years in the private sector in various senior commercial marketing roles in blue chip organisations such as The Bank of Ireland Group, The Coca-Cola Company and the Red Bull distributor, Richmond Marketing. During an exciting and important period of change within the ISPCC, John brings significant experience in the area of strategy development, organisational change, planning and commercial focus as the organisation seeks to reposition its Childline service brand to expand supports to more children in the digital mental health and wellbeing area. During this period, John lead out on the evolution of the governance, risk and compliance function ensuring the ISPCC operates at the highest levels of trust. John is a graduate of UCD and KUL in Belgium and has recently completed the Diploma in Digital Transformation from UCD.

Claire is a solicitor with Mason Hayes & Curran’s Charity and Not-for-Profit Team. Claire works with a wide range of charities and not-for profits including religious organisations, educational institutions, healthcare providers and public bodies.

Claire advises clients on a range of issues which arise during the life cycle of charities and not-for-profits, including incorporating and registering as a charity; the statutory and governance obligations of charities and their trustees under the Charities Act 2009 (as and to the extent amended by the Charities (Amendment) Act 2024), the Companies Act 2014 and the Charities Governance Code; and options in relation to restructuring and winding down. In addition to her legal expertise, Claire has personal, practical experience of charity governance, having previously held several governance and oversight related roles for Irish and international charities. Claire is also qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales.

Robbie Creevy is the COO and Co-Founder of PushMe, a company transforming how organisations develop and retain key talent through its digital coaching platform. A Chartered Accountant by trade, Robbie transitioned into the startup world after an eight-year career at PwC, where he worked across both Assurance and Advisory services. Alongside his professional journey, Robbie spent a decade playing football in the League of Ireland, sharpening his leadership and teamwork skills while competing at the highest level of the sport nationally.

Martin Duffy is the Head of AI for PwC. With over 30 years of experience, he focuses on guiding organisations through the development and implementation of artificial intelligence strategies. His work emphasizes responsible AI, ensuring ethical and transparent adoption of emerging technologies. Martin emphasis on AI governance and in particular unstructured data governance has helped Irish organisation adopt AI in a productive and responsible manner.  Martin is a fellow of the Analytics Institute. 

Dr. Fitzpatrick has a PhD in Freshwater Ecology looking at Irish headwater streams and worked as an Environmental Consultant before moving to London to work at Queen Mary University of London and then to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew to build and head up the Research Funding Services for Kew Science. Maria has a track record of significantly increasing research funding, implementing efficient grant management systems, and developing innovative programmes to support researchers. She is Circular Economy trained with a CSRD professional qualification and blends scientific expertise, project, relationship management skills, and a keen understanding of the environmental challenges our world is facing to build compelling cases for change. Maria sits on the steering committee for Natural Capital Ireland

Ciaran is Head of Governance and Consulting Services, including Arthur Cox’s Governance, Risk and Compliance Consulting team. He has over 20 years’ experience in professional and consulting services.

His areas of expertise include risk transformation, governance reviews, regulatory implementation and data governance across a wide range of industries, primarily within the financial services sector.

Ciaran works with a multi-disciplinary team to support clients in areas such as regulatory implementation, governance, risk and regulatory reporting and risk transformation.

Previously, Ciaran spent eight years in a senior leadership position in the Risk Consulting team of a professional services firm.

Gerry Hussey is a number one best selling author, speaker, executive coach, and facilitator in the field of human health performance, team development and corporate leadership.

Gerry has been at the forefront of building high performance teams and individuals in Olympic and Professional, sport and corporate organisations. His vast experience has seen him prepare and lead teams for success at Olympic Games, Heineken cups, World cups, and World and European championships.

Niall Jones is the Head of Listing for Ireland and the UK for Euronext, with over 20 years’ experience in the financial advisory and Exchange industry. He joined Euronext Dublin in 2019, having previously worked as a Director of Corporate Broking at Davy and before that with ABN AMRO and Morgan Stanley in London in their corporate and investment banking teams.

Niall manages the relationships with all companies listed on Euronext Dublin and represents the pan-European stock exchange to companies looking to list on any of Euronext’s seven markets. He leads IPOready Ireland, a strategic financing programme providing executives in high-growth companies with the required skillset for raising strategic finance and accessing the capital markets. Niall works with the domestic equity capital markets’ ecosystem to advocate for a strong funding environment at all stages of a company lifecycle.  His role broadly focuses on connecting local companies to global capital markets in order to fund and accelerate innovation and growth.

Aisling McArdle is a finance professional with over twenty five years of experience in the financial and regulatory industries. Currently, she serves as the Group Head of Primary Market Admissions, overseeing the admission to listing and trading of financial instruments on Euronext markets for Equity, Debt and Funds asset classes.

Aisling joined Euronext Dublin in 2002 and has held a variety of roles within the company.  She became Head of Admissions in January 2021, having previously held the role of Head of Regulation, Dublin & London. Prior to this, Aisling held a number of positions in Primary Markets handling a wide range of regulatory, managerial, and operational responsibilities.

Aisling is a Licentiate of the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland.  She also serves as a non executive director on the Board of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, and the Board of Euronext Securities, Copenhagen. In addition she is a member of the Risk & Compliance Committee of the Board of Euronext Dublin and is also a member of the ESMA’s Consultative Working Group on Corporate Finance.

Jon manages the governance and compliance function at The Wheel, Ireland’s national association of charities, community organisations and social enterprises. He is responsible for ensuring the organisation’s governance functions effectively and fulfils statutory requirements while striving for best practice. He also supports members of The Wheel in their own governance journeys, working to ensure an effective and transparent nonprofit sector.

Lorraine is a Managing Director in the Sustainable Futures team, and ESG Reporting Lead for KPMG Ireland. She brings over 15 years global experience in the provision of sustainability advisory and assurance services to clients across both the public and private sector. She has supported over 100+ clients in addressing sustainability challenges across all sectors. Most recently, she has been working with clients on navigating the complexities of ESG regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

David is a solicitor with almost 30 years of professional practice. He trained and worked in private practice before joining the Chief State Solicitor’s Office in 1997, working in the Criminal Division of that office. 

A short stint in the Revenue Solicitor’s Office specialising in prosecutorial work was followed by over 14 years as the solicitor and legal advisor to the Competition Authority. Whilst working at the Competition Authority, David personally lead the investigation into the Heating Oil Cartel. As lead investigator, David was responsible for planning the investigation, conducting searches of business premises, interviewing witnesses and suspects and gave evidence before two jury trials. This case resulted in the conviction on indictment of 18 companies and individuals for their part in a price fixing conspiracy. These were the first such convictions by jury trial in either Ireland or Europe. David has a Ph.D. in law from Trinity College and has published widely on legal subjects, including two books on Competition Law. 

David joined the Companies Registration Office in early 2015 in the run up to the commencement of the Companies Act 2014.David is a solicitor with 25 years of professional practice. He trained and worked in private practice before joining the Chief State Solicitor’s Office in 1997, working in the Criminal Division of that office. A short stint in the Revenue Solicitor’s Office specialising in prosecutorial work was followed by over 14 years as the solicitor and legal advisor to the Competition Authority. Whilst working at the Competition Authority, David personally lead the investigation into the Heating Oil Cartel. As lead investigator, David was responsible for planning the investigation, conducting searches of business premises, interviewing witnesses and suspects and gave evidence before two jury trials. This case resulted in the conviction on indictment of 18 companies and individuals for their part in a price fixing conspiracy. These were the first such convictions by jury trial in either Ireland or Europe. 

David has a Ph.D. in law from Trinity College and has published widely on legal subjects, including two books on Competition Law. David joined the Companies Registration Office in early 2015 in the run up to the commencement of the Companies Act 2014.

Susanne was winner of Corporate Governance Lawyer of the Year at the IFLR EMEA Women in Business Law Awards 2024 and nominated as ESG Leader of the Year at Ireland's Climate Change Leadership Awards. 

Susanne is a Corporate partner at Matheson LLP and leads the firms Public Company Advisory & Corporate Governance Group. 

Susanne has particular expertise in corporate governance and compliance matters and in securities regulation. Susanne advises boards and executive teams of listed companies, state bodies and large domestic companies on ongoing governance and compliance as well as in the management of crisis or reputational matters.

As a member of Matheson’s ESG Advisory Group, Susanne leads the firms ESG advisory mandates on corporate sustainability reporting and sustainability due diligence.

Susanne lectures on Corporate Governance and ESG topics at the Law Society of Ireland and Ireland's Institute of Directors Chartered Director Programme.

Susanne was winner of Corporate Governance Lawyer of the Year at the IFLR EMEA Women in Business Law Awards 2024 and nominated as ESG Leader of the Year at Ireland's Climate Change Leadership Awards. 

Tim Nelson is co-founder and CEO of Hope for Justice and Slave-Free Alliance. Hope for Justice is an international charity working to bring freedom from human trafficking and modern slavery with an effective and proven multi-disciplinary model. Its programmes and training initiatives in the UK, USA, Ethiopia and Uganda reach approximately 150,000 adults and children each year. Its anti-trafficking initiatives are based around community engagement and outreach; investigation and victim identification; survivor support and advocacy; community prevention and anti-trafficking education; residential and non-residential aftercare and transitional care; family reintegration; training; campaigning; and policy work.

Tim also created and launched Slave-Free Alliance, which partners with more than 100 businesses (including 15 current or recent FTSE 100 companies) to protect their supply chains against modern slavery and labour exploitation, with all profits reinvested into Hope for Justice. Tim has a background in Banking, Finance and Technology.

Michael is a Chartered Director with extensive experience as an independent chair and non-executive director.  He is currently chair of two businesses in the financial services sector and is a board Assessor with the Institute of Directors.  He has previously served as a member of the board of KBC Bank Ireland PLC, where he provided oversight to the bank’s digital transformation strategy.  Michael has served on the board of the National Concert Hall and recently stepped down from the board of the ISPCC where he was chair of the Audit Risk and Compliance Committee.

Michael has over twenty-five years of leadership experience in international technology and FinTech sectors.  He led global teams at Microsoft and Dropbox and brings expertise in areas including leadership, digital transformation and corporate governance.  Michael’s primary degree is in Economics and Psychology, and has post graduate qualifications in Management, Accounting and Finance, Company Direction and an MBA. Drawing together the two strands of his experience in Technology and Corporate Governance, he is currently pursuing a doctorate with a focus on corporate governance in a world of generative AI.

Aedín is an experienced independent non-executive director and sustainability professional, with a 25+ year executive and advisory career spanning asset and wealth management, funds, tax, insurance, pensions, and ESG. She has worked for and with a number of financial organisations including Cantor Fitzgerald, PwC, Sarasin & Partners, Friends First and Ulster Bank.
She is independent non-executive director on the boards of TG4, Charities Institute Ireland and is a PCF approved director serving on boards in the funds sector. She is also an experienced board committee member in the areas of Audit & Risk, Finance, Investment, Strategy and Fundraising.
Aedín sits on the Council of the Irish Fund Directors Association (IFDA) and chairs their ESG Working Group. In that capacity, she represents IFDA at the Central Bank of Ireland’s Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance Forum. She is a co-founding director of the Green Team Network, a collaborative climate action forum for the Irish funds industry and recent winner of the Sustainable Impact Award at the 2025 Spider Awards.
As an ESG and sustainability practitioner, Aedín advises corporate boards and executive teams, and provides training for professional bodies such as Institute of Banking, Institute of Directors, Insurance Institute Ireland. She is a regular keynote speaker, moderator, and panellist at leading industry events. Aedín is a formal NED course reviewer for the Climate Governance Initiative (established by the World Economic Forum).
Aedín studied Commerce at UCD and later qualified as a tax consultant and QFA (Qualified Financial Advisor). Aedín also holds a Certificate and Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors.

Jillian is a partner in Grant Thornton, as part of her role she leads the Company Secretarial offering for Grant Thornton Ireland, one of the leading professional services firms in Ireland.

Jillian is a fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland and also chairs the company secretarial practice committee and a member of the Governance and Nomination Committee. Jillian holds diplomas in Commercial law and Corporate Governance from the Law Society of Ireland together with a Diploma in Taxation from the Irish Institute of Tax.

Maureen was appointed as the new Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Co-Operatives in July 2019 and oversaw the opening of Register for filing on 29th July 2019.
Ms O’Sullivan holds a Bachelor of Business Studies degree, Certificates in Public Management and Public Sector Human Resources and a Professional Diploma in Corporate Governance. She has been a Board Member of the European Business Registers Association since June 2021.

Christine Quigley is a Managing Associate in the Corporate group at Simmons & Simmons. She is qualified to practise law in both Ireland and England & Wales.
 
Christine has extensive experience in corporate law and advises clients on a wide range of matters including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity transactions, joint ventures, and corporate reorganisations. 
 
Christine joined Simmons & Simmons in May 2020 from another international firm. She began her legal career in the corporate team of a US law firm in Toronto, Canada.

Natalie Walsh is Head of Non-Financial Reporting and Finance Projects at FBD Insurance plc, and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland (ICAI). With over 20 years in the insurance industry, she brings deep expertise in financial and ESG reporting. Natalie recently led FBD’s wave 1 sustainability reporting process and will share lessons learned, key supports, and what wave 2 and 3 reporters should consider as they prepare for the two-year reporting delay.

Cillian is a chartered company secretary specialising in the provision of entity formation, management and board support services to a variety of Irish incorporated companies, external tax resident entities and partnerships. He has particular experience in providing a wide range of corporate secretarial services, share trustee services and transactional assistance to aircraft leasing entities, structured finance vehicles and general trading companies. Cillian holds a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Dublin City University and a Master of Science degree in Management and Corporate Governance from Ulster University, Northern Ireland. Cillian is an Associate Member of the Chartered Governance Institute, UK and Ireland.