Meet the Judging Panel

The Panel

• 

  Professor Patricia Barker Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Finance, DCU

  Pat is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Finance, DCU. She served as Associate Dean in the Business School and as Vice-President for Academic Affairs. She has held several non-executive directorships, chairing the Audit and Risk Committees in companies, including Dublin Bus, Tallaght Hospital, The Marine Institute, ETBI, and Veritas Publications. She is currently on the Board of and chairs the ARC of the Central Remedial Clinic and The Pensions Authority. Pat has chaired Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Technical Accounting Committee, Education Board and Ethics and Governance Committee. She is a member of the CCAB Ethics Committee. She represented Ireland on the ASB and the UITF. She served two periods as a member of the Council of Chartered Accountants Ireland, and was a judge on the panel for the Published Accounts Award for some years. With a research interest in EDI, she has published books in the inclusion of women in the accountancy profession, technical accounting and accounting ethics. Always interested in international democracy, Pat has represented Ireland on the OSCE and EU panels of election monitors and observers, working in post conflict theatres such as Bosnia, Chad, South Africa, Uzbekistan and Montenegro. She worked for six months in human rights in the West Bank of Palestine. Pat was one of the founder directors of Women’s Aid and worked for many years as a voluntary counsellor with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. She is married, with two children and two grandchildren and sails in waters as diverse as the Mediterranean and the Southern Ocean.

• 

  Sheena Horgan Chief Operating Officer and Principal – Advisory Services, 2into3

  Sheena Horgan is the Chief Operating Officer and Principal – Advisory Services at 2into3. Sheena has extensive governance, advocacy, and transformation credentials. She has previously been the CEO at Drinkaware and CEO of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Sheena’s career also includes advising private, nonprofit, public, and international entities in the UK. She supported a broad range of organisations with strategy and stakeholder development, communications, and crisis management. Sheena holds an MBA, and a Diploma in Corporate Governance.

• 

  Michael Wickham Moriarty Treasurer and Board Member, Core Humanitarian Standards Alliance

  Michael Wickham Moriarty is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and a Chartered Director. He has been a finance leader in a range of Irish and international non-profit organisations ranging in size from €2m annual turnover to €1b annual turnover. He is currently the Treasurer and a board member of the Core Humanitarian Standards Alliance. He was previously a governor and honorary treasurer of the Rotunda Hospital as well as a board member of EPIC, Empowering People in Care. Michael has recently been appointed to the governing board of An Coimisiún Pleanála. As Director of Corporate Services Michael was part of the Trócaire team that won Good Governance Awards in 2018 and 2019 as well as the Published Accounts Awards in 2019.

• 

  Bill Cunningham Chartered Accountant; Senior Partner (retired), PricewaterhouseCoopers

  Bill Cunningham is a Chartered Accountant with over 40 years’ experience in both the professional and commercial world. Bill was a Senior Partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers until his retirement in 2008. He was the managing partner of Coopers and Lybrand in Ireland prior to its merger with Price Waterhouse in 1998. Bill’s clients included many of the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ leading national and international clients, working with them on audit, advisory, merger and acquisition and re-structuring activities. Since his retirement, Bill has continued to be active in business, holding a number of Non-Executive Director appointments and other advisory roles. Bill has chaired the Audit Committees in the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture, currently chairs the Audit Committee of the Pensions Authority and is an advisor to the Audit Committee of the Central Bank of Ireland. Bill also holds several not-for-profit directorships including the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and Cricket Ireland and chairs the Board of Saint John of God Hospital in Dublin and has advised the Saint Vincent de Paul charity on their social housing strategy.

• 

  Níall Fitzgerald Head of Ethics & Governance, Chartered Accountants Ireland

  Níall is Head of Ethics & Governance at Chartered Accountants Ireland. He leads the advocacy and delivery of strategic objectives on professional ethics and governance across operations, including policy, development of member resources, and engagement with regulators, standard setters and other stakeholders. Níall, a Chartered Accountant (FCA), is also a non-executive director, holding several board and board committee positions, and an experienced governance advisor.

• 

  Louise Gorman Assistant Professor in Finance, Trinity College Dublin

  Louise joined Trinity College Dublin as Assistant Professor in Finance in 2022. Since graduating from DCU with her PhD in 2016, she has lectured in finance, accounting and governance in a number of universities in Ireland and has led programmes in accounting, fintech and sustainable finance. Her research interests are primarily in corporate governance, ESG and integrated reporting. Having published work in these areas at international level, Louise is an active participant in the academic community and also regularly engages with, and delivers professional training to, practitioners and professional bodies.

• 

  Eva Gurn CEO, Boardmatch

  Eva joined Boardmatch in 2011 and is their longest serving employee since its establishment in 2005. Eva was promoted to CEO in 2018 having held the position of Director since 2015. Eva is responsible for the overall strategic direction of Boardmatch, ensuring it achieves its objectives and continues to strengthen boards and make them more diverse. In 2023, Boardmatch recorded a new best of over 440 charity board appointments. Eva is passionate about how boards recruit, engaging new audiences to volunteer on boards and innovative in the ways that this is done. Eva sits on the board of YAP, Youth Advocate Programmes, a charity that delivers a range of services to young Irish people and their families. Eva also sits on two Committees of the National Volunteering Strategy in Ireland.

• 

  Catriona Hogan Owner and Principal Consultant, CH Consultancy

  Catriona Hogan is the owner and principal consultant of CH Consultancy and delivers a very wide range of governance and compliance services to the charity sector. She has over twenty-five years’ experience of working in the non-profit sector and has managed local, regional and national organisations. A graduate of UCC, University of Pisa and School of Philanthropy Indiana University, Catriona has reported to Boards as a charity staff member and provided professional advice to Boards nationally and internationally. In 2018, Catriona completed a review of the Good Practice Certificate course for Charities Institute Ireland. In 2017 she wrote in collaboration with legal firm Mason Hayes and Curran the Charities Institute Ireland Fundraising Codes of Good Practice. She was also one of the members of the implementation group for the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising – co-ordinated by ICTR. Catriona provides professional advice and training to charities on all aspects of governance, compliance (in particular with Charity Regulator requirements and applications), regulation, strategy and fundraising. Catriona regularly speaks at conferences and seminars on areas of best practice, governance and compliance in the charity sector. Catriona believes passionately in the non-profit sector in Ireland and embraces and welcomes transparency, accountability and good practice in the sector. Catriona was a Board member of the National charity ‘Suicide or Survive’, a volunteer with the ‘Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind’ and a committee member of Cork Chamber of Commerce. She currently sits on a number of governance and risk committees for charities as an external advisor. Catriona is currently a trustee of the all Irish Primary school, Scoil Na Nog, in Co Cork, where all meetings are conducted through Irish.

• 

  Emma Hopper Head of People and Programmes, Volunteer Ireland

  Emma is the Head of People and Programmes in Volunteer Ireland, the national organisation that promotes, supports and advocates for volunteering in Ireland. Emma leads on Human Resources, Finance and Governance, working closely with the CEO and the Board to deliver the strategic direction of Volunteer Ireland. Emma manages a staff team covering a range of programme areas including Learning and Capacity Building, Volunteering Development Programme and Development of the National Volunteering Database I-VOL. Emma’s goal is to maintain employee relations and cultivate an environment that promotes inclusion, collaboration and innovation.

• 

  Fergal Moran Director of Finance & Operations, The Wheel

  Fergal is the Director of Finance & Operations for The Wheel, Ireland’s national association of charities, community groups and social enterprises. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and completed his accountancy training with KPMG after studying Business & Economics. Fergal worked in the non-profit sector for 7 years before joining The Wheel having previously spent a number of years in the multinational and hospitality industries. His other roles in the sector were as Finance Manager for an addiction support clinic in Dublin, and as Finance Director of an all-Ireland youth charity for 5 years. He also holds a certificate in culinary arts so loves cooking and dining out. He enjoys running, travelling and the cinema in his spare time.

• 

  Donnchadh Ó Mórdha Director, Institutional Consulting, Davy

  Donnchadh is a Director in Davy’s Institutional Consulting team, where he sets and implements investment policy on behalf of charities, government agencies, universities and other institutions. Donnchadh has 17 years’ investment experience with a particular focus on institutional investment governance, policy and portfolio management. He holds a First-Class Honours B.Sc. in Finance, Computing and Enterprise from Dublin City University and a MBS in Finance from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. He recently completed a Professional Diploma in Data Analytics in University College Dublin. Donnchadh is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of the CFA Institute. He has also completed the CFA Certificate in ESG Investment and is a member of CFA Society Ireland’s ESG Committee.

• 

  Geraldine O’Sullivan Manager, Kerry Volunteer Centre

  Geraldine has over 18 years’ experience of supporting the organisational development, volunteer management and governance journey of small to medium sized not for profit groups in Kerry plus larger networks nationally. Her training portfolio and client base is broad. She has been working as the Manager of Kerry Volunteer Centre since 2004 where she has earned a reputation for empowering the capacity of not for groups and their voluntary management committees. Geraldine is keenly aware of the challenges that volunteers encounter when ‘doing governance’. She has worked with key national stakeholders such as the ICTR, the CRA and the Lobbying Regulatory Authority. She is a founding member and was long serving Director of Volunteer Ireland predecessor organisation Volunteer Centres Ireland and a member of the working group tasked with formulating The Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising in Ireland. Geraldine values the efforts being undertaken by trustees who are growing the culture of good governance practices.

• 

  Martin Quinn Professor of Management Accounting & Accounting History, Queen’s Business School

  Martin is a Chartered Management Accountant and Professor of Management Accounting & Accounting History at Queen’s Business School. He has worked for several indigenous and multi-national organisations before joining academia. His research works spans several areas, including analysis of the content of contemporary and historic corporate disclosures. He is also a non-executive director of a not-for-profit financial institution.

• 

  Philip Smith Partner; Coordinating Partner, Charity Law Group, Arthur Cox

  Philip is a partner in Arthur Cox and specialises in Pensions Law and Charity Law. Philip holds practising certificates in both Ireland and Northern Ireland. As coordinating partner of Arthur Cox’s Charity Law Group, he advises on the issues affecting charitable and not-for-profit organisations and their Directors/Trustees including advice on governance, regulatory compliance investigations, Revenue aspects mergers, restructurings, cy-pres, wind-up, trust law and fundraising. He is the co-author of Law of Charities in Ireland (Bloomsbury Professional, 2019).

• 

  Gemma Daly Chartered Accountant; Non-executive Director

  Gemma is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of experience. Having worked for most of her career as an Executive Director with EY and has extensive financial accounting and auditing experience through working with a variety of Irish and European public and multinational companies. She specialised in external audit services, risk management and governance advice. Gemma also has significant experience of working in a number of regulatory environments, including non-profit organisations, board and audit committee reporting and internal control matters. Gemma spent two years working with EY in their Philadelphia, USA office. She is currently applying her skills at the boardroom table as a non-executive director and has served on a number of boards and audit committees in the not-for-profit and charity sector. She is currently a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Maynooth University. Gemma holds a BA in Accounting & Finance and Graduate Certificate in Corporate Treasury from DCU and is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland. She is also a former committee member of the Chartered Accountants Ireland, Leinster Society which provides educational, professional and social opportunities to Chartered Accountants.

• 

  Rea Walshe Owner, RW Consulting; Interim CEO, Boardmatch Ireland

  Rea Walshe is the owner of RW Consulting a consultancy firm specialising in corporate governance in the private, sport and not-for-profit sectors. She is also currently the Interim CEO of Boardmatch Ireland – the only Irish charity that specialises in charity and not-for-profit board recruitment and support. Rea is a qualified solicitor and graduated from UCC with an honours degree in law and a certificate in governance from the IPA. She is currently a participant on the 7th Edition of the Executive Masters in International Sports Governance. Rea is an experienced Board Director and Company Secretary. She was Chief Operating Officer at the Football Association of Ireland and led the extensive governance reform journey there from 2019 – 2021, which was recognised by UEFA in its own Good Governance Awards. She now works with a number of clients in improving their internal governance and ensuring that their policies and procedures are up to date and being implemented. As Interim CEO of Boardmatch she works closely with not-for-profit organisations all over Ireland, providing support, advice and training on building and strengthening voluntary boards and committees.

• 

  Ian Drennan Chairperson, Corporate Enforcement Authority

  Ian Drennan is Chairperson of the Corporate Enforcement Authority. He is also a member of the Medical Council, where he is Chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee. Having previously held the positions of Director of Corporate Enforcement and Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, he has 25 years’ experience in the areas of governance, regulation of professions, investigation, and both civil and criminal enforcement. He is a Fellow of both the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Chartered Accountants Ireland. He holds an MA in Law (Professional), a Professional Diploma in Corporate Governance, and an Advanced Diploma in Corporate, White-Collar and Regulatory Crime.

• 

  Gerry Egan Chartered Director; Management Consultant and Company Secretary

  Gerry is a Chartered Director, experienced management consultant, trainer, and Co. Secretary, with deep expertise in corporate governance. He provides clients in the private, public, and non-profit sectors with a range of services and supports, including Board evaluations and skills audits, Board and individual director coaching and mentoring, Co. Secretary coaching and mentoring, governance, risk, and compliance reviews, and data protection services. He has been a judge in the Awards since their inception.

• 

  Don Delaney Founder and Director, d2 communications

  Don Delaney is the founder and director of d2 communications. A PR and communications consultancy specialising in the charity, not-for-profit and voluntary sectors, it undertakes publicity for fundraising campaigns, health education initiatives and conference events, as well as strategic communications planning and media training. Don also presents the Turning the Tables media podcast where he interviews editors, producers and journalists, on their careers, life behind the media scenes, and industry developments. A former television presenter with RTÉ and a current affairs presenter on Midlands 103, Don has held senior communications roles with the Irish Cancer Society, the Rehab Group, Fleishman-Hillard and the Health Service Executive. Don is a winner of a national media award for outstanding broadcasting and has played a key role in campaigns that have won a number of awards for excellence in public relations. Don is a member (and former director) of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland and an accredited member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations UK.

• 

  Gráinne Madden Corporate Governance and Business Ethics Consultant

  Gráinne Madden has established herself over the last 23 years as a trusted advisor in corporate governance, business ethics, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies. In addition to her consulting work, she delivers training and facilitates workshops with a specialisation in Governance and Protected Disclosure. Gráinne was also a dedicated educator for 20 years, teaching Master’s level Business students at Griffith College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. Gráinne has significant practical experience in board governance, having served on and chaired boards of various charities and not-for-profit organisations. She holds an MBA from the Smurfit Business School and a Diploma in Corporate Governance from Glasgow Caledonian University. Her belief in life-long learning is borne out by undertaking courses on subjects such as ESG reporting, Whistleblowing law, policy and practice and AI Governance.