The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, has appointed nine members to the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) with seven new appointments and two reappointments. The new appointees are Joan Peppard, Emily Kelly, Dr Denis O’Driscoll, Dr Laura Jane Sahm, Dr Cyril Sullivan, Martin Higgins, and Martin Sisk, while Geraldine Crowley and Mark Jordan have both been reappointed.
The appointments take effect from June 18 2023 for four years. All members of Council are appointed by the Minister to act in the public interest in carrying out the regulatory responsibilities of the PSI.
The PSI Council has also elected Katherine Morrow as PSI President (chair) and Joan Peppard as Vice- President. The President and Vice- President are elected from amongst the Council for a one-year term and may hold office for up to two years.
Appointed to the Council in 2021, Katherine is Director and National Co-ordinator of APPEL (Affiliation
of Pharmacy Practice Experiential Learning) with responsibility for the experiential learning placements of the integrated pharmacy programmes of the three Schools of Pharmacy in Ireland.
A graduate of the School of Pharmacy, Nottingham University, Katherine has over 25 years’ experience, acquired from working across a breadth of sectors, including primary care, secondary care, regulation and academia.
She holds an Advanced Diploma in Leadership, Personal and Executive Coaching and has previously qualified as a Supplementary Prescriber in the UK. She has extensive experience in education/CPD, accreditation and competency assurance from previous roles as Operations Director of the Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP) and Head of Education and Professional Competence with the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP).
Joan Peppard is the new Vice-President of the PSI. A pharmacist with 40 years’ experience in hospital pharmacy, Joan also holds a degree in Public Management from the Institute of Public Administration (2000) and a Masters in Ethics from Dublin City University (2012). Joan was Chief Pharmacist at the Midlands Regional Hospital from 2006 until 2023. She also held the role of pharmacy lead for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group (DMHG) in the national Covid-19 vaccination centres. Joan has held the roles of President of the Hospital Pharmacists Association of Ireland and President of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists.
The PSI is governed by a 21-member Council, with a non-pharmacist majority. Council members are appointed by the Minister for Health in accordance with the Pharmacy Act 2007.
