Meet The Judges
Of The Good Governance Awards
Nina Arwitz
Nina is CEO of Volunteer Ireland, the national volunteer development organisation, which connects communities through volunteering. She also chairs the working group that developed and oversees the voluntary Code of Practice for Good Governance of Community, Voluntary and Charitable Organisations in Ireland.
As the CEO of a charity that has gone through the process of developing its own governance practices, she also has a practical appreciation for the challenges and opportunities that non-profits face in implementing good governance.
Mairéad Butler
Mairéad is a Chartered Accountant and was most recently Head of Compliance and Corporate Affairs for Rabobank’s operations in Ireland. Having qualified with KPMG, she has worked primarily in financial services in Sydney and Dublin, in governance, risk and compliance areas.
Over the years she has obtained qualifications in IT audit, treasury and company secretarial roles. In 2016, she completed an MSc in Strategic Public Relations with the University of Stirling. Mairéad is a director of An Cosán and of the National Maternity Hospital and sits on sub-committees for each.
Katie Cadden
Katie is a governance expert who empowers boards to govern effectively and responsibly. She is founder of Katie Cadden & Associates – an Irish firm that provides trusted advisory and consultancy services, to boards of directors across the public, private and nonprofit sectors in Ireland and the UK.
Katie is an experienced, independent non-executive director who has served on boards across a range of sectors, including the financial services sector. An experienced State Board member, Katie has a wealth of regulatory experience having served as a Government appointee to Ireland’s first statutory Charities Regulator. She continues to serve as an external member of the Regulatory Committee of the Charities Regulator. Katie also lectures in Charity Law and Regulation at the Law Society of Ireland.
A committed volunteer, Katie is a Council member of the RNLI– the charity that saves lives in the water.
Katie is a practicing and MII accredited mediator, with a particular interest in dispute and conflict resolution in the boardroom, workplace and professional spheres. Katie is a former practicing solicitor who has worked in-house for one of the world’s leading luxury goods conglomerates and in private practice as a litigator in a range of actions, including complex, high volume, multi-party actions before the Superior Courts in Ireland.
Daniel Caldwell
Daniel is a F
Tom Costello
Tom has held a number of voluntary positions in the not-for -profit and charities sector, following his departure in December 2014 from the staff of The Atlantic Philanthropies as part of the wind down of that organisation internationally. He is a member of the Charities Regulatory Authority Board, a Ministerial nominee to the Advisory Council for Better Outcomes Brighter Futures and is a former Chair of The Children’s Rights Alliance.
In his career with Atlantic over a period of 14 years, Tom led investments in programmes for Children, Older People, Education and Community Development. His earlier career included stints in teaching and consulting in Organisation Development and Leadership at the Irish Management Institute, and as senior manager with FAS in the 1990’s. Tom’s early career was in the voluntary sector in leadership positions in both the National Youth Council of Ireland and the Union of Students in Ireland.
Dr. Thomas B. Courtney
Tom is Head of the Company Compliance and Governance Practice and a Partner in the Commercial Department of Arthur Cox where his focus is corporate governance, company law, corporate offences, legislation and regulation.
Tom has built a strong corporate governance advisory practice to leading national and international companies. Recognized as one of the leading experts on Irish company law, Tom is author of The Law of Companies (4th ed; 2016) and chaired the Company Law Review Group which designed the format and content of the Companies Act 2014.
Bill Cunningham
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.
Gerry Egan
Gerry Egan is a Consultant and Trainer specialising in corporate governance, data protection and GDPR compliance, and strategy development working with clients in the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
Gerry is an experienced Chairman, Director and Company Secretary with over 30 years’ experience in a commercial State company where he held a number of senior executive roles and led significant transformation programmes. He currently serves on the board of Carmichael.
Gerry holds a M.Sc. (Mgmt.) from Trinity College and is a Chartered Director.
Níall Fitzgerald
Níall is Head of Ethics & Governance at Chartered Accountants Ireland. He has responsibility for leading the development of policy and embedding of matters relating to business ethics and governance across operations. Níall previously worked with PwC and before progressing to work in management consulting, advising in relation to provision of professional services, policy and internal control development, induction and board committee training.
He is well-travelled, having worked overseas in Europe, USA and Canada with organisations such as PwC, McKinsey & Company and PGL Travel. Níall has also authored Chartered Accountants Ireland’s publication on “Concise Guide to Ethics and Governance in the Charity and Not-for-profit sector”, a range of professional toolkits, numerous ethics and governance related articles, and leads a number of projects in relation to creation of values and ethics awareness and supports, organisational culture resources and effective audit committees training.
He holds a M.Acc from NUIG, Diploma in Corporate Governance from UCD, is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and a Chartered Tax Consultant (CTC).ce.
Louise Gorman
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.
David Hickson
An excellent communicator with strong commercial acumen and 12 years’ experience leading a multi-disciplined team. Skilled in Financial Management, Negotiation, Business Planning, AML & GDPR Compliance, Operations Management, Coaching, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Advocacy Director with over 12 years’ experience leading a trade association, liaising with Government Ministers, Members of Parliament, Civil Servants, and engaging with all aspects of the media as required.
Sarah McCague
Sarah trained with Arthur Cox and since qualification has specialised in pensions and charity law. As a member of the firm’s Charity Law Group Sarah advises charities and not-for-profit organisations on establishment, Revenue applications, compliance, and day to day governance issues as well as on the impact of the Charities Act, 2009 on charitable organisations. She has also been a board member of a number of Irish charities and is an active participant in many Arthur Cox pro bono initiatives. In her pensions practice, Sarah advises employers and pension scheme trustees on the establishment and day to day operation of pension schemes including drafting scheme documentation and booklets and reviewing investment management agreements and agreements governing relationships with service providers. Sarah also advises on scheme reorganisations and the pensions elements of corporate transactions.”
Jane-Ann McKenna
Jane–Ann McKenna is the Chief Executive Officer of Dóchas, the Irish network for international development and humanitarian organisations. She has significant experience in humanitarian and emergency response, having led Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) teams in conflict and crises affected areas including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Central African Republic. She served as the Director of MSF Ireland from 2011-2016, where she led the strategic growth and scale up of MSF’s Irish office, focusing on fundraising, communications and recruitment initiatives. More recently, she led the development of MSF’s global strategy for 2020-2023. Jane–Ann is a qualified accountant (FCCA) with a Master of Business Studies in International Business from UCD Smurfit School of Business. Jane–Ann has previously been awarded UCD Alumni of the year for Business.
Fergal Moran
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
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.
Seán O’Reilly
Sean is Assistant Professor in Accountancy at University College Dublin. He is also acting as the Interim Academic Director on the Masters of Accounting (MAcc) programme at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Prior to his role in UCD he was the Assistant Head of the School of Accounting & Finance at Technological University Dublin. He trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in PwC. He has experience as a company Founder, Director, Non-Executive Director and Consultant which includes International projects.
Geraldine O’Sullivan
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
Martin is a Chartered Management Accountant and Professor of Management Accounting & Accounting History at Queen’s Management School. He has worked for several indigenous and multi-national organisations before joining academia. His research works spans several areas, including the analysis of the content of contemporary and historic corporate disclosures.
Laura Redmond
Laura is currently the financial controller for the Irish chapter of The Ireland Funds, a global philanthropic network that promotes and supports peace, culture, education and community development across the island of Ireland. Laura is a chartered accountant having trained with PwC and has almost 20 years’ experience in banking and corporate finance. Prior to joining The Ireland Funds, Laura held several positions in the National Treasury Management Agency including as a financial analyst in the National Development Finance Agency and most recently as a senior asset manager in the National Asset Management Agency.
In addition, Laura is a member of St Michael’s House’s Finance Committee, a leading charity providing services to people with disabilities and was previously a director of St Michael’s House. Laura is a volunteer with Special Olympics where she is a mentor to a Special Olympics athlete and was previously the Athlete Leadership Programme Officer for Special Olympics Eastern Region.
Philip Smith
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)
Paul Turpin
Paul has served as a board member of regulatory bodies, commercial entities, public sector and non-profit bodies. His early roles included as an economist in the public sector followed by a career in investment management. Subsequently he worked for over 10 years with the Institute of Public Administration developing governance services. He was a founder and manager of the Governance Forum. He is a qualified Chartered Director and Investment Fund Director. He is an adviser to boards on governance issues. Current appointments include as a board member of investment companies and the PSI Council. He is the chairperson and of the Audit Committee of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and of Sport Ireland’s Governance Code for Sport Working Group.
Rea Walshe
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.
GGA Assessors
There is also a panel of assessors who assist with the process of screening and shortlisting applications who are submitted to the judges for adjudication and selection of the category winners. See the Good Governance Awards Assessors below:
| Name | Organisation |
|---|---|
| Aine Crotty | CAI |
| Andrew Madden | Carmichael |
| Arlene Harmann | CIMA, ACMA |
| Ben Hilliard | CPA Ireland |
| Caitríona McMahon | Feran & Co. Solicitors |
| Catríona Hogan | CH Consulting |
| Cian Spillane | Individual |
| Ciara Cassidy | CPA Ireland |
| Claire Rudd | CIMA |
| Colm McGinty | Sport Ireland |
| Dáibhí O’Leary | Arthur Cox |
| Damien Roche | CPA Ireland |
| Derek O’Reilly | Carmichael |
| Diarmaid Ó Corrbuí | Carmichael |
| Elaine Breen | Individual |
| Elaine Gililand | |
| Emma Hickey | Arthur Cox |
| Eoghan Murphy | Individual |
| Heather Briers | Chartered Accountants Ireland |
| Helen Concannon | Individual |
| Henry Thynne | CPA Ireland |
| James Doorley | |
| Jason Dowling | Whelan Dowling & Associates |
| Joanne Ryan | Individual |
| John Carolan | Solve Outsource |
| John Curran | Donegal Volunteer Centre |
| Julieann Finlay | Julieann Finlay |
| Karen Dunne | CIMA |
| Kathya Rouse | McMoreland Duffy Rouse |
| Keith Morrow | Chartered Accountants Ireland |
| Keith O’Reilly | Carmichael |
| Kevin Gregory | Individual |
| Liam Scollan | Individual |
| Lisa Rowntree | CIMA |
| Mark O’Leary | CIMA |
| Marcos Simpson | CIMA |
| Michael Wickham Moriarty | CAI |
| Mike O’Halloran | Chartered Accountants Ireland |
| Niamh Gavin | Adelaide Health Foundation |
| Noelle Martin | KPMG |
| Pat Barker | Chartered Accountants Ireland |
| Paul Barry | Individual |
| Paul Cahill | CPA Ireland |
| Peter O’Brien | CPA Ireland |
| Philip O’Callaghan | Chartered Directors |
| Rhea Albuquerque | The Corporate Governance Institute |
| Róisín McGuigan | Carmichael |
| Roland Fallon | Individual |
| Ruth Pritchard | Individual |
| Salvador Nash | The Chartered Governance Institute (ICSA) |
| Sean O’Keefe | CPA Ireland |
| Senan Turnbull | Individual |
| Sinéad Gordon | Sport Ireland |
| Siobhan O’Leary | CPA Ireland |
| Tom Connaughton | Rehab Group |
Technical Assessment Panel
Those entries for annual report award that have been long-listed will have their financial statements technical assessed by a firm of accountants. In 2023 our accountancy firms who will conduct the technical assessments are:
The Good Governance Awards
is an initiative that recognises and encourages adherence to good governance practice by Community, Voluntary and Charitable organisations in Ireland.
