Sport Ireland Board Members

Kieran Mulvey - Chairperson

Kieran Mulvey has been Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Commission since 1991. He is the Director General of the new Workplace Relations Commission. Kieran is a former General Secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) and Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT). Kieran has also acted as a Consultant with the EU and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on matters relating to public management, human resources and industrial relations. He chaired the negotiations which led to the Public Service Croke Park, Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road Agreements. Kieran is a Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the National University of Ireland.

Bernard Allen

First elected to Dلil ةireann in 1981, Bernard Allen retained his seat at each subsequent general election until his retirement in 2011. A front bench spokesperson for Health, Social Welfare, Environment and Local Government, Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sport and Recreation, he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Education and the Environment with special responsibility for Youth and Sport. Bernard was Lord Mayor of Cork City 1988 - 1989 and is a member of the Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland, Bol Chumann na hEireann, Golfing Union of Ireland, GAA and FAI.

Lynne Cantwell

Lynne Cantwell is Ireland’s most capped woman in Irish rugby and a former Vice-Captain & Captain for Ireland’s 15s & 7s team. She has represented Ireland 86 times over a 13 year period and jointly led Ireland to their first ever Six Nations Triple Crown, Grand Slam title and victory over World Champions, New Zealand 2013/14. Since retiring she has continued to represent and help progress the game.

Roy Dooney

Roy was Chairman of the NSCDA Operations Company Ltd and is a Communications Consultant by profession. Roy was a Member of the National Sports Strategy Group from 1995-1997 and a former Commissioner of the Eircom League. He is a former international athlete who represented Ireland at Marathon, Road and Cross-Country championships at European and World levels. Roy is a former co-opted member of the Board of Athletics Ireland.

Mary Dorgan

Mary is the former Assistant Chief Executive with the Health and Safety Authority. Mary joined the HSA from Waterford Crystal where she had the role of Human Resources Manager. Mary has served on many Boards and committees and is currently on the Board of Waterford Childcare Ltd. Previous Boards include Pobal, HSA, Waterford Chamber of Commerce (former President) and Waterford Institute of Technology. Mary is a certified member of the Mediation Institute of Ireland and has extensive experience as non-executive director across both public and private sectors. Mary was recently appointed to the Board of the National College of Art and Design and has a keen interest in all sports and particularly in promoting participation.

Olive Loughnane

Olive competed as a high performance athlete from 2000 – 2013. She became World Athletics Champion in 2009. She represented Ireland at four consecutive Olympic Games. Since retiring from competitive sport in 2013 Olive has been a member of the Sport Ireland High Performance Committee. She currently works as a Statistician in the Central Statistics Office (CSO). She will shortly complete a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Management in the Institute of Public Administration.

John Maughan

John Maughan served as Senior Football Manager of Mayo, Clare, Roscommon and Fermanagh and led his county to the 1996, 1997 and 2004 All-Ireland Senior Football Finals. John inspired Clare to win the Munster Football title for only the second time in 1992 and also managed NUI Galway in the Sigerson Cup. He also managed the Mayo under 21 side to an All-Ireland in 2004 and is currently coaching underage footballers in his club, Castlebar Mitchells. John held the position of Captain with the Defence Forces of Ireland and is currently employed by Mayo County Council as a Procurement Officer. John is also a football analyst for RTة Radio sport.

Padraic Moran

Padraic is a two-time Paralympian and a former world champion in the sport of Boccia. With over 20 years national and international competitive experience, he possesses a wealth of knowledge across the sports disability sector. Apart from extensive experience in existing disciplines, more recently he has been assisting in developing Power Chair Football within Ireland. He has worked with Youth Sport Trust UK and is currently working with East Coast FM and Sky Ireland.

Caroline Murphy

Caroline is a Broadcaster and Psychologist who runs her own Communications Consultancy. She presents 'It Says in the Papers' on Morning Ireland and has many years' experience of Sports Broadcasting in both Radio and Television. She was a member of the National Sports Campus Development Authority and its representative on the High Performance Committee of the Irish Institute of Sport.

Patrick O'Connor

Pat O'Connor is a Solicitor, Coroner, Arbitrator and Notary Public. Pat is a member of a number of professional and regulatory bodies and associations including The Law Society of Ireland, The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Mental Health Tribunal, and the World Rugby, Six Nations and IRFU Disciplinary panels. Patrick has previously served as member, chairman or director of a wide range of professional, sporting and philanthropic organisations including the Board of Management of St. Louis Community School, Hope House, the Irish Association of Suicidology, the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, the Courts Service Board and the Press Council of Ireland. He has held various offices within the Law Society of Ireland most notably as President (1998-99).

Roger O'Connor

Roger is highly qualified as a finance professional, having attained a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and a Master of Business Administration, both from UCD. He has been a full member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants since 1997. He has worked in elite professional sport since 2000, holding the position of Head of Finance and he has also served as Managing Director of an international tournament organiser and rights holder. He is currently CFO of the Curragh Racecourse Ltd.

Gary Ryan

Gary Ryan is the UL Beo Project Manager at University of Limerick. He is a twice Olympic Athlete, a World Indoor medalist, a former Director of Coaching for Athletics Ireland and has coached athletes and teams at World European and Olympic level from youths to seniors. He was also Head of Fitness for the Tipperary Senior Hurling team for several years. In his current role he is developing partnerships and programmes in Sport and Physical Activity with high performance, community and industry engagements that benefit individuals, sporting organisations, communities and industry and on the University of Limerick’s teaching, service and research output.

Liam Sheedy

Liam is the Area Manager for the Mid-West Region with Bank of Ireland. A former Tipperary hurler he went on the manage his county to All-Ireland Minor glory in 2006 and delivered National League and two Munster titles at senior level before capturing All-Ireland success in 2010. Liam is also a RTE hurling analyst on The Sunday Game.