Board of Directors

Mr Birthistle has 40 years experience in the Irish hospital sector including 20 years at CEO level. Lorcan was Chief Executive of St. James’s Hospital, Ireland’s largest acute teaching hospital prior to his retirement in 2020. Lorcan was previously Chief Executive of Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin and St. Luke’s Hospital in Rathgar. Lorcan holds a BA in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from the National College of Industrial Relations and a Masters in Healthcare Management from Trinity College Dublin. He has held a number of national leadership roles including President of the Health Management Institute of Ireland and member of the Executive Board of the European Association of Hospital Managers.  Lorcan has extensive experience as a member of a number of healthcare related education, research and fundraising boards.

Dr. Terry McWade is CEO of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. He previously held the positions of Deputy CEO in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, CEO Exceptis Technologies, Principal in the Boston Consulting Group (London), and CEO of Servier Laboratories (Denmark).

Terry is a Board member of the National Treatment Purchase Fund where he chairs the Patient Care Committee. He is a former Chair of the European Vaccine Initiative and Deputy Chair of the Dublin Dental Hospital. He is a former Board member of the Governance Association of Ireland and a former member of Registration and Continuing Practice Committee and Audit Committee of the Medical Council.

He qualified in medicine from TCD, and holds a MBA (INSEAD), MSC (Healthcare Ethics and Law), and Diploma in Corporate Governance (UCD). He is an IOD Chartered Director.

Helen Nolan is an experienced non-executive director, including with with Dole plc, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

She is a non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee with Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland and Companjon Insurance, an insuretech company backed by Swiss mutual La Mobiliere. She is also a director of The Institute of Directors Ireland, where she chairs the Finance and Governance Committee.

Helen was Group Secretary for Bank of Ireland Group from 2009 to 2021, having responsibility for all aspects of board and corporate governance. She previously held a number of senior executive roles in Bank of Ireland Group, including Group Chief Internal Auditor and Divisional Finance Officer for the Wholesale Division. Prior to that, Helen held Head of Finance roles in successful banking and life and pensions businesses.

Eugene Murray is former CEO of the Irish Hospice Foundation; he is a member of the board of St Luke’s Hospital; member of various national health councils, committees and forums; in RTE, he was a member of the Executive Board, Director of Business Planning and Head of Television Current Affairs.

Carole Pollard is a registered architect and Past President of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland 2016-2017.  She was a member of the RIAI Governance Review Steering Committee and as President was responsible for implementing new governance structures.  Carole’s practice includes teaching, writing and research work in the area of architecture and design, and she is an advocate for excellence in the built environment.

Dr Philip Wiehe is a practising General Practitioner for the past 35 years at Sundrive Medical Centre.  He was appointed GP Unit Doctor with the HSE from 1998 to 2003 and was Programme Director of HSE mid-Leinster GP training programme from 2003 to 2011.  Since 2013, he has been a GP Trainer with North Dublin GP Training Programme.  He is a past member of Spirasi Board 2010 -2017 and is a current member of the Safetynet Board.  Member of Irish and Royal Colleges of General Practice.

Cathy Maguire is a practising barrister of 25 years standing, specializing in employment and trade union law. She is a member of the editorial board of the Employment Law Report and Irish Employment Law Journal and was chair of the Employment Bar Association 2016 – 2018. She has published a number of text books on employment and trade union law and lectures in trade union law in the King’s Inns and Law Society.

Vincent Barton is currently Director of Healthcare at Prospectus Consulting, who specialise in the Health and Life Sciences field. He was Managing Director of Prospectus from 2007 to 2017.

Vincent is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, Paris.

Prior to joining Prospectus in 2001 Vincent worked in the Department of Health and Children for two decades. His senior responsibilities there included finances and hospital services, Estimates negotiations with the Department of Finance, work on the first Cardiovascular Strategy, leading the Change Management Team within the Department and development work on national Health Strategy.

In addition to his time with the Department of Health, Vincent also served two terms with the Department of Foreign Affairs at Ireland’s representation to the EU in Brussels, where he was Health Attache during the Irish Presidency.

With Prospectus Vincent has worked on over 400 commissions for a wide range of clients including: Department of Health, the HSE, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services, Coombe Women’s Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital, All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care, Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Surgeons, ICGP, VHI, Pfizer, Novartis, the Religious Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of Mercy.

Since March last year Vincent has been leading a Prospectus team in supporting HSE Acute Operations Division in management of the acute sector response to the COVID-19 pandemic at national level.

Vincent has lectured on Health Policy at Trinity College, Dublin in the Masters in Health Management course, the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland and the Smurfit School of Business, UCD.

Formerly a Board member of St James’ Hospital, the Coombe Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Tallaght Hospital Development Board,

Vincent also has the following Memberships:

– Institute of Management Consultants and Advisors

– Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare

– Ireland France Chamber of Commerce

– Royal Dublin Society

Hilary joined Bank of Ireland as Head of Health and Life Sciences in 2014 where she is responsible for the continuing development of the Bank’s growth strategy in the Health and Life Sciences sector.

With her specialist knowledge and experience in clinical and corporate governance of health and social care organisations including nursing homes, pharmacies and hospitals, Hilary has in depth understanding of the complexities and realities of healthcare and the insight required to support healthcare businesses to anticipate, adapt and thrive.

Hilary has extensive senior clinical and executive national and international experience in the health and regulatory sectors. She originally qualified as a nurse from St Vincent’s University Hospital and worked in a variety of clinical and executive roles including Director of Nursing. Hilary has an MBA from Smurfit Business School and post graduate qualifications in Healthcare Management, Corporate Governance and Risk Management. Recent roles include Head of Healthcare Regulation in HIQA, Patient Safety Advisor to the World Health Organization and Academic Programme Director in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Dermot Ryan is a senior civil and public servant with significant experience in a wide variety of roles.

He is currently the Assistant Secretary General, Dept. of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). This role includes corporate business functions, encompassing responsibility for financial management including budgetary negotiation and oversight, internal and external HR, digital transformation, governance and performance, development and implementation of risk management function.

Mr. Ryan also leads on the department’s response to Covid 19 and currently on the transition arrangements as the Department pivots towards a blended working environment.

He has experience in the areas of working effectively at the highest levels with boards, senior officials, Cabinet Sub-Committees, private sector leaders and public representatives of all parties over many years; a wide experience in the development and implementation of corporate governance and risk assessment measures; proven expertise in the areas of financial control, budgetary reporting, audit and risk and control; a strong record in delivering on all aspects of strategy, policy and legislation through formulation, drafting and implementation/enactment; considerable experience in the design, implementation of change management systems and leading organisations through policy, strategic and regulatory change measures; extensive experience in solution focused approaches to dealing with the significant challenges involved in dealing with competing stakeholder interests, both within civil/public service and also semi- state and private sectors; developed policy through governmental, committee and working group structures at National and at EU level; significant experience in litigation at National and European levels; and, experienced in dealing with the media and communication challenges.

Mr. Ryan has held Board membership on The National Council for Special Education: Board Committees: Finance; Strategy, and The Middletown Centre for Autism (established under North-South Agreement): Board Committees: Finance; Audit/Risk