Meet the Board

Pat McCann (Deputy Chairman)

Pat has over fifty years’ experience in the Hotel business. He started in 1969 in Ryan Hotel Group plc before joining Jurys Hotel Group plc in 1989. He retired from Jurys Doyle in 2006 and founded Dalata Hotel Group in 2007. Pat served as President of Ibec from September 2019 to September 2020. Pat was Chairman of Whitfield Hospital in Waterford from 2011 to 2018. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Glenveagh and a number of private companies. On March 2nd 2021, Pat announced his retirement from Dalata Hotel Group plc.

William Johnston (Honorary Secretary)

William Johnston is an economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, a solicitor and the external examiner in banking law for the Law Society; he is a member of the Governing Body and chair of the Finance and Property Committee of Technological University Dublin; he is a Board member of the Port of Waterford.

Tom Murphy (Honorary Treasurer)

Tom Murphy is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of financial and commercial experience while based in the UK, the US and Ireland. He served as CFO of Fyffes Plc. for 14 years. Now retired, he is a non-executive director of several companies.

Prof. Jennifer Walsh (Master)

A graduate of UCD and the current Master of the National Maternity Hospital, Jennifer Walsh is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and Maternal and Fetal Medicine Subspecialist at the NMH. She was appointed to NMH in 2016 following completion of postgraduate subspecialty training at Columbia University NYC. She is the Director of Fetal Medicine at the NMH. Jennifer sits on both the Project Team and Project Board for the move to SVUH campus at Elm Park and chairs the Digital Health Steering Group for the future hospital. She is also Mum to three children, all of whom were Holles Street babies.

Ms Jill Beck

Jill Beck graduated from Trinity College with a Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics Degree. She has been working as a Commercial Manager in the Construction Industry for the past 20+ years. She has been involved in such projects as Semiconductor plants, pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, Data Centres, Hotels, College and many more. She is a mother to 3 kids, all of whom were born in the National Maternity Hospital.

Cllr Emma Blain

Emma is a councillor on Dublin City Council, having previously served on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council from 2016-2024. Emma is a former Dublin Lord Mayor. She is also an Irish delegate to the European Committee of the Regions, representing the interests of Dublin City at the European Union. An experienced media and communications professional, she is also the editor of The Church of Ireland Gazette. Emma is the mother of two children, both of whom were born at the NMH.

Sarah Claxton

Sarah is an Engineer with over 24 years’ experience in the energy industry. Having worked in technical engineering and line management roles, she completed an MSc in Work and Organisation Behaviour and has worked in the area of Strategic HR & Organisation Development for the past 10 years. She currently leads People and Organisation Capability at ESB Networks as that business transforms to enable wide-scale electrification of society in support of the National Climate Action Plan.

Denise Cole

Denise Cole has 25 years of experience working in Human Resources and combines a wealth of strategic and operational HR and organisation development experience in both the private and public sectors. Her career includes KPMG in London and Dublin, the Beacon Hospital as Head of HR and St James Hospital as Head of HR Strategy. Denise is currently Head of HR for the Courts Service where she leads a People & Organisation Transformation programme.

Andrew Crotty

Andrew Crotty is a Chartered Accountant with over 40 years’ experience initially in a partnership practice and subsequently in the commercial sphere as finance director of TileStyle. Whilst now retired he continues to be involved as a long-standing financial consultant to a number of companies and individuals.

Aidan Devlin

Aidan Devlin is a Chartered Accountant and a UCC Commerce graduate. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland and the Mediators Institute of Ireland. Aidan has over 35 years’ experience in Corporate Banking and Project Finance both in Ireland and the Middle East. He is also a board member of an Affordable Housing Body and was a founding board member of the NMH Foundation.

Caroline Devlin

Caroline Devlin is a solicitor and a graduate of University College Dublin, with extensive experience in commercial law. She spent over 30 years practising in a large law firm and now works as a legal and tax consultant to a range of companies. Caroline also serves on the boards of several organisations, including a number of not-for-profit bodies.

Cllr Cian Farrell

Cian Farrell is a Dublin City Councillor for the South East Inner City ward. Cian studied International Commerce in UCD, and currently works for a technology company.

Dr Nikki Higgins

A graduate of UCD and the current Director of Anaesthesia at the National Maternity Hospital, Nikki Higgins is a Consultant Anaesthetist at both the NMH and St Vincent’s Hospital Group. Having completed fellowships in Obstetric Anaesthesia, Bariatric Anaesthesia, and Intensive-Care Medicine in the UK, she took up her first consultant role at St George’s Hospital in London, where she remained for 4 years. Her special interests include Bariatric and Obstetric Anaesthesia.

Prof. Shane Higgins

Shane Higgins, is a Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist and is a former Master of The National Maternity Hospital. He is an Associate Professor at UCD, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and has a special interest in Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Shane has a broad range of clinical and management experience gained within Ireland, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia.

Fr Alan Hilliard

Fr Alan Hilliard serves as administrator of Westland Row, City Quay and University Churches in Dublin’s South Inner City. He spent many years as Coordinator of the Pastoral Care and Chaplaincy Service guiding it through the transition from DIT to TU Dublin while ensuring a high quality of service to all students and staff. He has had varied roles in his time with the Archdiocese of Dublin including Director of the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants and Prisoner’s Overseas. He is an author of many books published by Messenger Publications and is a familiar voice on RTE’s A Word in Edgeways.

Prof. Declan Keane

Declan Keane is the current Clinical Director, has been a Consultant Obstetrician since 1995 and is a former Master of the Hospital. He has worked in the UK and the USA and was recently appointed as a Professor to the RCSI. He has considerable administrative experience and was a former member of the National Women’s Council and was the obstetrician advising the Citizen’s Assembly on the 8th Amendment.

Carmel Logan

Carmel Logan is a Chartered Accountant and Tax Adviser. She is a partner at KPMG with over 20 years’ experience providing tax services to Irish and international companies across a range of sectors including real estate, infrastructure, technology and lifesciences. She is also a member of a number of industry bodies across the sectors she works in.

Prof. Fionnuala McAuliffe

Fionnuala McAuliffe is Chair and Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UCD, Director UCD Perinatal Research Centre, Head, Women’s and Children’s Health, UCD, Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist at The National Maternity Hospital. Her subspecialty area is maternal and fetal medicine and she is Programme Director of the RCOG maternal and fetal medicine subspecialisation fellowship at NMH. She has received significant grant funding both nationally and internationally. Fionnuala has developed guidelines for pregnancy both in Ireland, UK and internationally.

Jane McCluskey

Jane McCluskey is a lawyer with a large multinational technology company and has over ten years’ experience practising corporate, commercial and intellectual property law. She is also a registered trade mark agent. Jane is Mum to four children, all of whom were born at the National Maternity Hospital.

Keith McCormack

Keith McCormack has over 20 years’ experience as a senior executive and non-executive director in Ireland’s media, tourism, consumer goods, and experiential sectors, holding CEO and board roles. He is a BSc and Arts Master’s graduate, member of the Chartered Institute of Directors, and applies executive training alongside national sectoral board experience in strategic oversight, risk management, and stakeholder coordination. Keith was born at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, as were his three children, and brings commercial perspective and governance experience to support public healthcare objectives.

Patricia O’Shea

Patricia O’Shea is a law graduate of University College Cork and is Group Head of Legal Affairs & Secretariat for a semi-state company. She was formerly General Counsel of a US multinational company serving as Company Secretary and a Director of a group company.

Ms Alison Quinn

Alison graduated from UCD with a BComm degree and then completed a Masters in International Business from Smurfit Business School before qualifying as a solicitor. Alison is an experienced commercial lawyer and litigator with more than 12 years experience advising multinational companies, Irish corporations and semi-state bodies on a range of commercial, consumer, data protection (GDPR) and technology matters. Her work has included secondment to a large tech organisation and representing clients before the Irish Commercial Court, the Irish High Court, and the European Court of Justice. Alison is a mum of 5 children, all of whom were born in Holles Street.

Dr. Michael Robson

Michael Robson is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and former Master of the NMH. Dr Robson is the National Clinical Director of the Maternal and New-born Clinical Management System (Maternity, neonatal and gynaecology electronic patient record for Ireland). He also developed the methodology behind the perinatal and caesarean classification system used world wide known as the Ten group (Robson) Classification System.

Dr Deirdre Sweetman

Dr Deirdre Sweetman graduated from UCD School of Medicine and began her training in Paediatrics and Neonatology in Ireland. She completed a PhD in neonatal brain injury in the NMH and moved to Melbourne where she undertook a neonatology fellowship in the Royal Women's Hospital and Royal Children's Hospital. Deirdre returned to Ireland and took up a Consultant Neonatologist post in Holles Street in 2015. Deirdre is the Director of Neonatology at the NMH and she continues to have a strong interest in neonatal neurocritical care.

Charles Watchorn

Charles Watchorn is a Chartered Accountant and a Dublin University mathematics graduate. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland. Charles has over 30 years’ experience working in US software multinationals with responsibilities across Europe, India and Asia. He is also a board member of Tusla and Chairs the board of Saint John of God Community Services.