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Appointments to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
Áine Lynch
Áine Lynch, is a registered general nurse for over 33 years and has spent her career predominantly in the acute hospital setting in Dublin following a number of years in the UK and Saudi Arabia.
From 1998 she has enjoyed several roles in Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) which including Clinical Nurse Manager 2 in Trauma Orthopaedics, Clinical Facilitator in Orthopaedic Nursing, Nurse Practice Development Advisor CNM 3 and Assistant Director of Nursing, Nurse Practice Development Department.
In 2016 she moved from TUH to the Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Unit (NMPDU) Dublin South, Kildare and Wicklow where she initially worked as Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Officer and later held the role of Interim Director.
Áine returned to TUH in April 2017 as Director of Nursing. Along with leading the nursing service of over 1,000 Registered Nurses and Health Care Assistants, she is executive lead for the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, Pastoral Care Department, End of Life Care, and the Arts and Health team. She acts as executive lead for the Patient and Community Advisory Council and has assumed Executive Integrated Care Lead in November 2020.
In the earlier part of her career Áine completed the English Nursing Board 2019 Orthopaedic Nursing programme, a Bachelor of Nursing Science (TCD) and a Master’s in Education and Training (DCU). In 2019 she completed a Diploma in Leadership Development in the UCD Michel Smurfit Graduate Business School. She is currently undertaking an Executive Leadership programme for Directors of Nursing and Midwifery through the National Leadership Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, ONMSD, and the RSCI Institute of Leadership. She holds the position of Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin. Áine Lynch was nominated by the Health Service Executive and appointed by the Minister for Health to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. The appointment is from 21 January 2021 to 14 January 2025.
Cyril Sullivan
Dr. Sullivan is a qualified accountant (FCCA/ACMA) with over 30 years’ experience in the profession. He held a number of senior executive positions in the public sector including with the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (C&AG) Office. Dr. Sullivan is currently the Director/ Chief Officer of European Consumer Centre (ECC) Ireland. His experience and expertise is in the areas of governance, strategy, corporate affairs, financial management, audit and risk.
Dr. Sullivan’s has held a number of State nominations including being a member of the Audit Committees of the Department of Health, Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, and the Department of Tourism and Sport. He has recently been reappointed to his second term as a member of the Audit Committee of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and as a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee of the Citizens Information Board. Dr. Sullivan has just finished his second term as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of An Garda Siochana.
As well as being a qualified accountant, Dr. Sullivan has a B.Sc in Computer Science (TCD), an M (Econ) Sc in Policy Studies (TCD), an MBA (Smurfit Business School, UCD) and a Doctorate in Governance (Queen's University, Belfast). Following a Public Appointment Service (PAS) campaign, Cyril Sullivan was nominated and appointed by the Minister for Health to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. The appointment is from 21 January 2021 to 14 January 2026.
Conan McKenna
Dr Conan McKenna is currently a part-time management consultant and associate-lecturer on Human Resources, Organisation Behaviour and Organisation and Strategy at the Institute of Public Administration.
As a former senior public servant, Dr McKenna has extensive experience across multiple public sector organisations, over four decades, in the areas of governance and change management, public policy and legislation (in regulation, non-criminal law reform and social reforms) and in senior HR, Finance and ICT leadership. Among his academic/professional achievements he has a Doctorate in Governance, a Masters in Management (Organisation Behaviour/HR) and is a qualified Barrister. Following a Public Appointment Service (PAS) campaign, Conan McKenna was nominated and appointed by the Minister for Health to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. The appointment is from 21 January 2021 to 14 January 2026.
Anne Marie Duffy
Anne Marie sits as Non-Executive Director on the regulatory body ‘Qualifications Wales’.
She is an independent expert on curriculum and assessment participating in a range of curriculum projects both local and within European states.
Anne Marie held the role of Director of Qualifications and Responsible Officer within CCEA (Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment) directing the design, operation and grading of public examinations. She directed and led CCEA’s digital transformation programme and investigations into malpractice.
She represented CCEA on the Chief Executives Forum of the Joint Council for Qualifications (UK) and held the role of non- Executive Chair of the Qualifications Governance Council of NEBOSH (National Examinations Body for Occupational Safety and Health).
She continues to serve as Chair of Curriculum Committee on the Board of Governors of a large inner city school in Belfast and serves on the governing bodies of a number of charities. Anne Marie holds a Master’s degree in Curriculum Design and Development, is alumnus of Common Purpose and the Chief Executive Forum Women’s Leadership. She was appointed OBE in 2017 for Services to Education. Following a Public Appointment Service (PAS) campaign, Anne Marie Duffy was nominated and appointed by the Minister for Health to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. The appointment is from 21 January 2021 to 14 January 2026.
Joseph Shalbin Kallarakkal
Mr Joseph Kallarakkal is a Registered General Nurse with five years’ experience managing the administrative department of an independent hospital. Mr Kallarakkal is currently serving as vice chairperson in INMO International Section. In 2019, Mr Kallarakkal lead a campaign that was successful in getting the Irish Government amend the rule regarding Critical Skill Work permits for overseas nurses.
Apart from qualifications in General Nursing in Midwifery, Mr Kallarakkal also holds a Bachelors’ degree n Commerce and a MBA in Healthcare Service Management.
Mr Kallarakkal has a successful track record in higher level management, including active involvement in critical decision making. His aim is to ease the registration process for qualified nurses and midwives, and to improve the quality of nursing and midwifery in Ireland by safe staffing and other measures.
Marian Vaughan
Ms Marian Vaughan is a Registered Nurse with 32 years’ nursing experience, including 27 years in children’s nursing. Her experience includes working in the infant cardiology unit in New Zealand and Crumlin Hospital, experience in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and 10 years as Clinical Nurse Facilitator in Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin Hospital. Ms Vaughan is currently working as a Clinical Placement Co-ordinator (CPC) in CHI at Crumlin.
Ms Vaughan’s involvement in nursing research includes 15 years membership of Nurse Practice & Nurse Education Committees, project leader in an initiative which led to the development of a Standardised Cross-Hospital Student Evaluation Programme, and experience as a research nurse for two studies in a UCD academic-clinical partnership. Apart from the qualification in General Nursing and Children’s Nursing, Ms Vaughan holds a Diploma in Pharmacology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Studies.
With over three decades of nursing experience, Ms Vaughan has actively engaged in the development of many quality and safety initiatives in children’s nursing practice. She is a member of several academic-clinical partnership committees and also collaborates extensively with her colleagues across CHI and nationally.
Louise Collins
Louise Collins is Director of Clinical Services (Health & Social Care Professions) in Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown. She has been a member of the executive management team at Connolly Hospital since 2013 having previously worked as the Speech & Language Therapy Manager.
She qualified as a speech in language therapist from University College London in 1992 and worked in the NHS until her return to Ireland in 2000. She has worked across acute and community services and her clinical specialties lie in care of the older person, stroke and mental health.
Her academic qualifications include a Diploma in Leadership and Quality in Healthcare from the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, an Advanced Diploma in Executive Coaching and a graduate award in Executive Healthcare Leadership from the Health Service Leadership Academy.
She is currently Chair of the Education Board of the Irish Association of Speech & Language Therapists.
The appointment is from 21st January 2021 to the 14th of January 2025.
Siobhan McArdle
Siobhán Mc Ardle is currently an Assistant National Director in the HSE with responsibility for Primary Care Operations. She holds a senior leadership role in the operational design and delivery of new Covid-19 services at local and national level as part of the HSE's pandemic response. She is also a member of the Working Group for the High Level Task Force on Covid-19 vaccination
A qualified Speech and Language Therapist, she presents with almost 30 years experience of working in a range of local, regional and national healthcare services in clinical, management and leadership roles. As a senior healthcare manager she has an established track record of working collaboratively and strategically with others, making links across the wider healthcare system, governmental departments and external agencies, to facilitate and enable improvements in service delivery.
In addition to her clinical training, she holds an M.Phil and postgraduate qualifications in corporate governance and leadership. The appointment is from 21st January 2021 to the 14th of January 2025
Louise Kavanagh McBride
Academic manager, Head of Department of Nursing and Health Studies, Letterkenny Institute of Technology and Vice President, NMBI.
Dr Louise Kavanagh McBride is a registered general nurse and nurse tutor and is the current Vice President of the Nursing and Midwifery Board Ireland (NMBI).
She is employed as an academic manager, Head of Department of Nursing and Health Studies at Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LIT) in Donegal where she leads, manages and co-ordinates undergraduate & post graduate related studies including: Pre-registration Nursing: B. Sc in General, MH and ID Nursing Programmes (level 8), Health Care Studies: BSc. (Ord. & Hons) in Early Child Care, Health & Social Science, part time post registration nursing programmes, top up nursing degrees, MSC and related specialist and continuing professional development and training programmes at LYIT, Donegal.
Having worked in HE Sector for the past 20 years she has acquired an extensive knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of the Irish Higher Education Sector as it evolved over time in response to professional bodies, national and international best practice policy and through to the current pursuit in Technological University Status in the North West.
She holds a PhD (UU 2015), a Fellowship in Nursing (RCSI 2016), an MSc in Nursing (TCD 2000), a Post Graduate Higher Diploma in Clinical Health Science Education (TCD, 2001), a Higher Diploma in Orthopaedics (RCSI, 1993) and a Diploma in Psychology (RCSI, 1990), a Certificate in Accident & Emergency Nursing (MMH 1992), a Diploma in Management and Industrial Relations (NCI, 1994) and a Post Graduate Qualification in Corporate Governance (IPA, 2018).
Louise completed her PhD in the nursing and midwife education context, focusing on the evaluation of reflective practice in final year internship trajectory. The appointment is from 21st January 2021 to the 14th of January 2025
Lorraine Clarke-Bishop
Ms Lorraine Clarke-Bishop is the Clinical Placement Coordinator for RCSI Hospital Group in Louth, covering both Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and Louth County Hospital, Dundalk and is a Nursing Lecturer at the Dundalk Institute of Technology. Her experience as a nurse includes working in the USA and Saudi Arabia.
Apart from a degree in Nursing, Ms Clarke-Bishop’s educational record includes Higher Education in Adult Nursing, a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Ethics and Law and a Professional Certificate in Governance.
Ms Clarke-Bishop has been an NMBI Board member since 2015. She has consistently made it her mission to bring the nurse and midwives’ perspective to the board’s work – both from her time as a staff nurse and as a CPC and education specialist. The projects she has been working on include the digitisation of the NMBI, building a professional competence scheme for our professions, and updating of the code of professional conduct. She sees her role as not only to protect the nursing and midwifery professions, but to blend in her real-life experience and understanding of nursing and midwifery to the Board.
Laura J.Sahm
Dr Laura Sahm is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy and Director of the MPharm Programme. Since 2018, Laura is a lay member of the Board of the NMBI and also serves on the Education Training and Standards Committee and the Fitness to Practice Committee.
Dr Sahm received a B.Sc. Pharm(Hons) from University of Brighton and won a scholarship from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) to pursue her postgraduate studies in the Grade 5A* Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath. Dr Sahm obtained her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics (Site-specific drug delivery of methotrexate to melanoma)in 1995. She moved to Germany in 1996 where she worked in community pharmacy, and for the pharmaceutical industry (Takeda GmbH). In 2003 upon return from Germany Laura worked as a senior clinical pharmacist in the Bon Secours Hospital, Cork before joining the School of Pharmacy (SOP) staff in UCC in October of 2005. Her position up until 2015 was as a joint appointment between the SOP and the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) where she worked as a Consultant research pharmacist on research projects between UCC and the MUH. Dr Sahm has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and generated research funding in excess of €1.6 million and has supervised 8 PhD students and 36 MSc students to date. The appointment is from 21st January 2021 to the 14th of January 2025.