Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly recently appointed four public interest members to the Council of the PSI following an open call for applicants through the State Boards appointment process. The new appointments are Dr Ann McGarry, Dr Paula Barry Walsh, and Mr Peter Dennehy. Ms Dorothy Donovan has also been re-appointed for a second four-year term.
Dr McGarry is a graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology (Applied Physics) and a postgraduate of University College Dublin (MSc and PhD Physics). She is a Chartered Director with the Institute of Directors and has worked within national regulatory organisations, including as Chief Executive of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, and as a Director of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities.
Dr Barry Walsh graduated as a veterinary practitioner from University College Dublin, and she has a Masters in Applied Food Science, a Certificate in Welfare, Ethics and Law, and a Certificate in Corporate Governance. She was until recently the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Mr Dennehy is a practising barrister at the Bar of Ireland and chartered engineer who has held senior management positions across public and regulatory bodies, including the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Nursing & Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).
Ms Donovan will serve a second term on the Council. She is a practising barrister.
At its online meeting, the PSI Council also re-elected pharmacists Ms Muireann Ní Shúilleabháin as President and Mr Rory O’Donnell as Vice-President of the PSI for a 12-month term. The appointments are effective immediately. Both Ms Ní Shúilleabháin and Mr O’Donnell will work with the Council to progress a substantial work programme overseeing the functions of the PSI and aligned to the regulator’s Corporate Strategy 2021-2023, which details the strategic objectives of the regulator to assure public and patient trust in pharmacy.
Ms Ní Shúilleabháin is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and has 30 years’ experience, working in many facets of the pharmacy profession. She currently works in community pharmacy in Co Kerry and she has spent more than 25 years as a hospital pharmacist, both in Ireland and the US (California and Washington states). She has been in a Chief/Superintendent pharmacist role since 2001.
Mr O’Donnell is a pharmacist graduate from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. He also holds a degree in Natural Science (Chemistry major) from Trinity College Dublin and a diploma in Strategy and Innovation from the Irish Management Institute. He is a patient-facing pharmacist and operates a community pharmacy in Gweedore, Co Donegal.
