Michael McLoughlin is Chief Executive of Amárach Research. He joined the Company in 2000 after a decade with AIB Bank. He has also worked in venture capital and retailing. Within Amárach he has particular interest in political and public affairs research; network planning and retail research and in stakeholder research. He has recently developed Amárach’s Irish American research programme, undertaken in conjunction with the New York based  www.irishcentral.com.

Between 2008 and 2010 he was, while on secondment from Amárach, Political Director of Fine Gael based in Leinster House. He holds MA and MBA degrees from University College Dublin. Michael is a non-executive director of Guaranteed Irish – a not-for-profit organisation established to promote Irish goods and services.

Angela Black, retired Chief Executive of Citizens Information Board, where she served from 2014 to 2021, has been involved in the provision and management of information, money advice and advocacy through citizensinformation.ie, and funding a network, including CIS and MABS, of more than 200 locations in Ireland.

Over her career, she has been engaged in customer service through her roles in public libraries, library administration, Government ICT projects and consumer financial services in the Department of Communications, Finance as well as in the European Commission. She represented Ireland’s EU negotiations on e-money, consumer credit, insurance and financial markets legal instruments.

Qualified to masters level from UCD in library and information studies, with an ICT degree from DCU, she has put her qualifications, including banking risk, into practice in several senior public service roles for over 25 years.

She spent four years as Detached National Expert in the European Commission in Brussels following the financial crisis, working on distance marketing, bank fees, switching, quality of investment advice and credit/APRC issues.

She chaired European Parliament negotiations, reaching agreement on the Mortgage Credit Directive during Ireland’s last EU Council Presidency.

She is a Director of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority and the Irish Banking Culture Board.

Kevin Heanue is an economist with over 30 years’ experience working in the public, private and voluntary sectors. He is currently Teagasc’s (Agricultural and Food Development Authority) Evaluation Officer where he is responsible for leading the evaluation of, and evidencing the impact from, Teagasc’s research, advisory, education and organisational activities. Prior to joining Teagasc in 2006, Kevin taught and researched industrial and business economics in Dublin City University Business School and before that worked in the private sector as an economic consultant and strategist. In a voluntary leadership capacity, he is Executive Chairman of Connemara West plc, a locally owned and managed community development organisation founded in 1972, and also director of several other rural local development organisations. Kevin has a PhD (Economics) from Dublin City University and an MA (Economics) and BA (Economics & Sociology), both from University of Galway. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Lourdes University, Ohio, USA in 2018.

Pauline Williamson – a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants with over 20 years’ international business experience working primarily in the financial services sector.
Pauline spent her early career in Dublin working initially with Irish Life and then moving to Bristol-Myers Squibb where, as Financial Controller, she was involved in the establishment of its European Treasury Centre and later was appointed General Manager. In 2005 she relocated to Dubai, United Arab Emirates and while living there she held several senior roles including Head of Finance for Lloyds TSB Bank and Finance Director for Safanad Limited, a private investment firm.
Pauline returned to Ireland with husband and young children in 2017 and currently lives in Dublin.

Deirdre Shields is a Chartered Accountant with over twenty years’ experience working with in the energy, aircraft leasing and banking sectors. She currently works as an independent business advisor.

She has extensive experience in corporate finance and funding, having held a number of senior Corporate Finance, Treasury and Strategic Management roles in ESB Group, and in the Funding and Capital Markets team in SMBC Aviation Capital. She has also previously worked with Bank of Ireland and completed her accountancy training with KPMG.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and holds a degree in Mathematics from Trinity College Dublin.

John has led Speedpak Group since 2003, building its commercial business and profitability and attracting a range of investment to deliver on the company’s social mission – to transform the lives of long term unemployed people through industry led training and commercial work experience. John has forged successful collaborations with the state, business, philanthropy and local community to innovate and improve outcomes for Speedpak’s trainees. During this time the Company has also evolved significantly and won numerous awards for social enterprise and entrepreneurship. Prior to his appointment, John held business development roles with Coca Cola HBC Ireland and Bass Brewers PLC and was Employment Services Manager with local development company, Northside Partnership. John is a founder and Non-Executive Director of Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland (SERI) and has served on the Board of Management of Coláiste Dhúlaigh College of Further Education ETB. He holds a BA, H Dip. in Ed. (UCD) and an MSc. in Education & Training Management (DCU).

Siobhan is the Group Chief Financial Officer for FRS, a farmer owned co-operative organisation established in 1980. Through growth and diversification the group now comprises co-ops and companies that provide a range of services to the public and private sectors.

Siobhan has over thirty-five years experience having trained and worked as an accountant with Irish Life, followed by roles in the pharmaceutical and public sectors before joining FRS as Financial Controller in 2004. She has experience of significant growth, transformation and change in her career.

She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and holds a MSc in Business (Leadership and Management Practice) from UCD Smurfit Business School.

Christine Hamill is a Chartered Banker with over 20 years’ experience in financial services working across Retail Banking,  Digital and Change and Strategy at the Bank of Ireland Group.

Christine is currently Director of Simplification at Bank of Ireland and is accountable for the design and execution of the Group’s Simplification Strategy, including enhancement of customer and colleague journeys.

Christine has held several senior management and leadership positions at Bank of Ireland including Business Relationship Manager, providing credit to commercial customers across multiple sectors and industries; Christine has managed Commercial Branches, supporting consumer and commercial customers.

Christine was formerly Head of Consumer Loans and Overdrafts (ROI) and Head of Cards and Loans (ROI) for a number of years with accountability for the consumer loan, overdraft and credit and debit card portfolios at Bank of Ireland.

Christine has also held the position of Director of Business Transformation, leading on business and customer readiness across a number of complex, multi-year digital transformation programmes.

Christine holds a Diploma in Financial Services from UCD and an MSc in Banking from UCD. Christine also holds Chartered Banker and Qualified Financial Adviser designations.

Karen Broderick is an ACCA Accountant with 19 years’ experience in the financial services and banking industry. Karen currently works as Senior Programme Lead in PTSB and is accountable for successful delivery of a number of Regulatory and Compliance programmes.

Prior to her role in PTSB, Karen spent 18 years in KBC Bank Ireland Plc and, during that time, she held a number of senior leadership roles across a wide range of areas including Retail, Business Banking, Risk and Credit. Most recently she held roles of Head of Credit Risk & Credit Quality Assurance and Head of Current Account Off Boarding as part of KBC’s exit from the Irish market.

In addition to a B.Comm from NUIG, Karen holds a Professional Diploma in Advanced Banking Risk Management and a Qualified Financial Advisor Designation.

Eithne Manning is a qualified finance and tax professional with over 30 years of experience working in the aircraft leasing, structured finance and banking sectors. She currently works as a Non-Executive Director. She has extensive experience on both the commercial and liability management sides of the business having held a variety of roles including, interim Chief Financial Officer, Head of Integration Management Office for a $6.7bn acquisition, Head of Funding, Finance and Tax, and Senior Vice President of Aircraft Trading at SMBC Aviation Capital. Prior to joining SMBC Aviation Capital, Eithne held a variety of roles in structured finance and corporate banking.

Eithne holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) and a Masters in Accounting (Hons), both from University College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and the Irish Tax Institute. She has completed the Higher Diploma in Corporate Governance at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.