State Board Governance

Terence O' Rourke is currently Chairman of ESB, RTÉ, Kinsale Capital Management and former Chairman of Enterprise Ireland. he is also a Board member of Ballymore (Ireland) and the Institute of International and European Affairs. He led the Arts Council 2014 Strategic Review Group and has been involved in a number of charity and cultural boards. Terence is a Patron of Chapter Zero Ireland, a community of non-executive directors that lead Irish boardroom discussions on the impacts of climate change. A Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, Terence joined KPMG in 1975, became an audit partner in 1988 and was elected Managing Partner in 2006. He was a member of KPMG’s Global Board, Global Executive Team and EMA Board, from 2007 to 2013. He as a wide breadth of business skills with high-level experience in commercial, finance, decision-making and strategy development roles working with clients in Ireland and abroad. In October 2023, Dublin City University conferred Terence with the award of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa), acknowledging his contribution to Irish business, education, the arts and public services.

Fiona Ross is an exceptionally experienced public and private sector Chair and Non-Executive Director. Fiona was re-appointed by the Irish Government to Chair Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in June 2021, Ireland’s public transport provider, to the Board of the HSE, Ireland's public health service, and in August 2021 was appointed to Chair the National Pediatric Hospital Development Board. In November 2023 Fiona was appointed by the Irish Minister of Finance to serve on the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) and now Chairs the NTMA Investment Committee. In the UK Fiona was appointed a Non-Executive Director at The Scottish Government in March 2019. She also holds two UK Government appointments, Network Rail and the Northern Ireland Office. In May 2022 she assumed the Chair role at Natural Capital Ireland. She has Central Bank of Ireland authorisation (UCIT and MIFID) and serves as a Non-Executive Director at JK Funds, Evelyn Partners (where she chairs the Audit and Risk Committee) and SphereInvest. Fiona began her career as a stockbroker in the City of London and spent 25 years working in all areas within capital markets in Dublin, London, Eastern Europe and the United States. In 2010, Fiona was appointed by the Minister for Arts to run Ireland’s National Library, the NLI, where she successfully served two terms as Director/CEO. Subsequently, Fiona continued her interest in the Arts and joined the Heaney family as a Non-Executive Director of the Heaney literary estate. Fiona is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Queen's University Belfast and the Institute of Art and Design (IADT) where in 2017 she completed a MSc in Cyber Psychology. In 2012 Fiona was awarded a fellowship in Governance at George Washington University in the United States.

Aidan Williams has over forty years’ experience in International Capital Markets, Investment Banking, Fund Management and Stockbroking. He holds a number of Non-Executive Directorships and is the former Chair of both UniCredit Bank Ireland plc, and Macquarie Capital Ireland DAC. Aidan is a Chartered Director of the Institute of Directors, a Chartered Fellow of the Institute for Securities and Investment and a former Registered Stockbroker of the Irish Stock Exchange. He is a member of the Institute of Directors and the Irish Fund Directors Association.

Kian Caulwell is a partner and Head of Financial Services Consulting at Mazars. He is responsible for delivering regulatory consulting and risk assurance services to our financial services clients. He is an Irish chartered accountant and Certified Ethical and Cultural Advisor with over 15 years’ experience. Kian advises financial services institutions in banking, asset management, payment services and leasing. In addition, he has significant experience acting for and on behalf of European central banks including, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority in the UK.

Caroline Spillane CDir is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Directors Ireland. She commenced the role in July 2022. Caroline has held several senior leadership roles including most recently as Director General of Engineers Ireland, the all-Ireland professional body for engineers, CEO of the Medical Council of Ireland, the independent statutory regulator of over 25,000 medical practitioners and Assistant National Director of the Health Services Executive. Caroline is an experienced Non-Executive Director serving as a board member of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), ESB Networks and Irish Manufacturing Research. She is also a member of the Advisory Group to Balance for Better Business, an independent business-led Review Group established by the government to improve gender balance in senior leadership in Ireland. Caroline's qualifications include a BA from UCC and an MA from TUD. She is currently undertaking a Doctoral programme with SETU.

Dr Margaret Cullen is a member of the IoD Faculty, where she advises on governance training, research, and advocacy. She is also a trainer on our IoD Essentials Workshop Series and an experienced Assessor with the IoD Ireland’s Board Evaluation Service. Margaret holds a PhD in governance from University College Dublin (UCD). She is a specialist in the areas of corporate and investment fund governance. Margaret has been an Assistant Professor at the UCD Smurfit Business School for 16 years, lecturing on the Professional Diploma in Corporate Governance in the areas of board roles and responsibilities, behavioural aspects of board and executive remuneration and incentives. She is currently Co-Academic Director of the Institute of Banking’s (IoB) Certified Bank Director Programme on an associate basis and lectures bank governance on the programme. Margaret was the founding CEO and Academic Director of the Certified Investment Fund Director Institute (CIFDI), a specialist institute of the IoB which focuses on raising professional standards in investment fund governance through its CIFD Programme.