Read here the names and biographies of the members of the FSAI Board.
The FSAI Board Members are:
Ms Ann Horan
Martin Blake
Professor Francis Butler
Professor Martin Cormican
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan
Carol Lynch
Mr Patrick (Pat) Knight
Ms Lisa Manselli
Mr Gerry McCurdy
Ms Eilis O’Brien
Ms Ann Horan - Chair
Ann Horan is a former Chair of the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA). Her executive roles included the positions of Chief Executive of the DCU Ryan Academy, Managing Director of Bank of Ireland Finance and Bank of Ireland Commercial Finance and Head of Group Risk & Compliance at Bank of Ireland. She has served on several boards including Dublin City University, the Institute of Bankers, South Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and chaired associations including the UK based Factors & Discounters Association and the International Women’s Forum. In addition, she chaired the audit committees of the HPRA and South Dublin County Council. Through her successful career, Ann developed expertise in the areas of leadership, strategic planning, financial control, and corporate governance. She has proven ability to operate in both the public and private sectors and has direct experience in the areas of regulation, finance, education, and public health. Ann is a Chartered Certified Accountant with a Masters in Finance from DCU.
Martin Blake
Martin Blake is a former Chief Veterinary Officer of Ireland, where he had policy and operational leadership responsibilities in the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine for animal health, animal welfare, food safety and veterinary public health matters. He also served as Ireland’s delegate to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). He has previously served on several boards including the Veterinary Council of Ireland, the Irish Equine Centre, the WOAH Platform for Animal Welfare for Europe and the Food and Agriculture Office of the United Nations’ (FAO) European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD), which he chaired from 2019 to 2022. Martin is currently a member of the board of Animal Health Ireland, an Adjunct Full Professor at the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, a member of the WOAH Governance Review Committee and a member of the EU Advisory Committee on Public Health Emergencies (ACPHE). He is a graduate of University College Dublin with a primary degree in veterinary medicine and a master’s degree in business administration.
Professor Francis Butler
Professor Butler is a Professor in the University College Dublin (UCD) Centre for Food Safety. His main research is in food safety with a particular focus on traceability systems and quantitative risk assessment of microbiological and chemical hazards in foods. He has led several large scale quantitative microbial food risk assessments and has made some novel contributions in the characterisation of microbial distributions in food and developing novel sampling strategies for contaminants in foods. He is currently leading projects using molecular microbiological techniques to identify the sources and routes of transmission of pathogens through the food chain. Other research interests include food chain integrity and the traceability of foods. Professor Butler has published over 150 publications in refereed journals, with over 100 refereed papers in international conference proceedings and over 150 additional national conference and other workshop presentations. He has coordinated or partnered in over 30 research projects including four EU Framework projects. He has trained a substantial team of researchers and scholars including 20 PhD students to completion and 13 research Masters students, as well as 14 post-doctoral researchers. He has served on several FAO/WHO expert meetings on microbiological risk assessment. Prior to joining UCD, Professor Butler worked in production management in the Irish dairy industry.
Professor Martin Cormican
Professor Martin Cormican graduated from National University of Ireland, Galway Medical School in 1986. He trained in Ireland, the UK and the USA. In 1999, he was appointed Consultant Microbiologist at Galway University Hospital and Professor of Bacteriology at National University of Ireland, Galway. He was HSE National Lead for Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance from 2017-2022 and is currently (2023-2025) HSE Lead for Laboratory Services Reform. His research interests are antimicrobial resistance, foodborne infection and the links between environment and human health.
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan MB, BCh, BAO, DCH, DObs, MPH, FFPHM is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine. She has worked as Director of Human Health and Nutrition at Safefood (Food Safety Promotion Board) and as Specialist in Public Health Medicine in the Health Service Executive.Dr Foley-Nolan has a medical degree from University College Cork (UCC); a Masters in Public Health from University College Dublin and is a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. Dr Foley-Nolan holds a senior lecturer post in UCC and is a trainer and examiner at the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. She has served on a number of national advisory groups including the National AIDS Advisory Group; tuberculosis; immigrant health; food poverty; and antimicrobial resistance. She has served on the Boards of the Veterinary Council of Ireland; Obesity Policy Groups in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; the Faculty of Public Health Medicine in the Royal College of Physicians; and the Heath Research Board Centre for Diet and Health. She is currently a member of the Bord of the Health Information and Quality Authority.
Carol Lynch
Carol Lynch is a highly experienced risk professional and qualified accountant with an extensive career, at senior management level, in the Financial Services industry in Ireland and the UK. Her core technical expertise is in financial risk management, financial regulation and corporate governance. Carol’s depth of experience and know-how were finely honed during the highly volatile, fast changing and demanding environment, caused by the 2008 Financial crisis. She has developed and implemented effective risk governance, financial analytical and reporting architecture and capability, building business resilience during this period. Carol has engaged extensively with major business stakeholders, including EU and national financial regulators, potential investors and she is a trusted advisor to boards, audit and capital project committees on financial and regulatory matters. Carol’s technical expertise is underpinned by a wealth of leadership and people management experience. She is an ardent believer in the importance of regular, effective, communications. Carol is an adept chair and board member and has served on a number of audit, risk and capital investment committees. In these roles, her philosophy is to share insights, provide guidance, act collaboratively while maintaining independence of mind and challenging constructively. Carol is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, has an MSc. in Work and Organisational Behaviour and is qualified to lead and advise on organisational culture and ethical change management. She is presently engaged in ethical research on individual, organisational and environmental interconnectedness.
Mr Patrick (Pat) Knight
Pat Knight, M.Sc Mgmt, FCIPD, is a successful strategic C-suite and HRM leader with over 30 years Management Executive experience - which was gained in both the public and private sectors. He also has many years experience as a Board member and is also currently an independent Non-Executive member of the Board of the Irish Aviation Authority. Currently working selectively as a strategic HRM and Transformation Management Consultant, Pat was An Post Group HR Director / Chief People Officer from 2004 – 2019, prior to that he was General Manager HR with Waterford Crystal (1986 – 2004) and prior to that he was a Personnel Officer with Bord na Mona. Pat has a proven track record of business transformation including; developing, negotiating, and implementing strategic, operational, cultural and organisational change, establishing and maintaining high standards of corporate governance – including ethical behaviour at senior management level in particular, sourcing top talent, building leadership capability at all levels of management, and the successful implementation of impactful employee engagement and stakeholder relationship management initiatives.
Ms Lisa Manselli
Lisa Manselli is an Executive Coach and Strategy Consultant. Prior to setting up her own business, Lisa was a Partner at Accenture where she led the management consultancy business in Ireland. A core focus of her work for the last 10 years has been developing corporate strategy in regulatory environments. Her clients have included CORU (health and social care professionals regulator); the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (the regulatory body for nursing and midwifery); PSI, the Pharmacy Regulator; and the Residential Tenancies Board. Lisa graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. Lisa also has a Masters in International Business Studies from the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, Dublin. She is a certified business coach (ICF) and qualified mediator. Lisa sits on the board of a private hospital in Ireland and has been on the board of a number of tech start-ups. She was also an adjunct Professor of Strategy at the IE Business School in Madrid from 2014-2016.
Mr Gerry McCurdy
Gerry McCurdy has over 40 years’ experience working in a policy and regulatory environment dealing with food safety, public health and consumer protection. He qualified as an Environmental Health Officer at the University of Ulster in 1978 and went on to attain a Master of Science Degree in 1991. He has held a number of senior positions in local and central government and was instrumental in setting up of the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland (FSA NI). As Northern Ireland Director of the FSA NI he developed close working relations with the FSAI and the Food Safety Promotion Board. On retirement in 2013, Mr McCurdy worked as a food safety consultant for the UN FAO and the World Bank on projects in Bosnia and Bangladesh. Mr McCurdy has considerable experience at Board level and currently holds Ministerial appointments as Chief Commissioner for the Northern Ireland Charity Commission and Deputy Chair of the Northern Ireland Consumer Council. He has also served on their respective Audit and Risk Committees. As well as serving as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the FSAI, he is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Ms Eilis O'Brien
Eilis is former Head of University Relations and Director of Communication and Marketing and a member of the University Management Team at University College Dublin. Previously she held a similar role at Dublin City University. She now provides strategic advice to universities with a focus on maximising communication effectiveness, leveraging reputation and generating income. Eilis has held a number of senior communication and marketing roles in the finance, natural gas, food safety, health and higher education sectors. Her experience also includes supporting the development of government policy on clean air designation and tobacco control. Eilis was director of communication, education and training during the start-up phase of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. She was public relations manager with Bank of Ireland for eight years and with Bord Gais Eireann, the national natural gas operator in Ireland, for five years. She is a member of the board of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. Eilis holds an MBA from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and a BA in Economics and Geography from UCD.
Minutes of the Board meetings
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