Governance & Management

Geoscience Ireland is headed by one of its Directors Sean Finlay, and is governed by a cross-departmental and cross-sectoral Advisory Board, comprising representatives from Geological Survey Ireland (GSI), Enterprise Ireland (EI), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) and five GI Members Companies.

Advisory Board

Koen Verbruggen (Vice-Chair)

Koen Verbruggen (Vice-Chair)

Director, Geological Survey Ireland

Sean Finlay (Secretary)

Sean Finlay (Secretary)

Business Development Director, Geoscience Ireland

Jim Fox

Jim Fox

Senior Development Advisor, Enterprise Ireland

Trevor O Reagan

Trevor O Reagan

Director EDCI

Niall Brady

Niall Brady

Trade Division, Dept. Foreign Affairs

Thomas Murray

Thomas Murray

Principal Officer, Dept. Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment

Richard Crowe

Richard Crowe

Managing Director, Nicholas O’Dwyer Consulting Engineers

Deirdre Lewis

Deirdre Lewis

Technical Director, SLR Consulting

Marie Fleming

Marie Fleming

Associate, Arup

Paul Doherty

Paul Doherty

Managing Director, GDG

Prof Dermot Duff

Prof Dermot Duff

Trinity College Dublin and the Irish Management Institute

Dr. Jennifer Craig

Dr. Jennifer Craig

Operations Director, iCRAG

Geoscience Ireland Team

Sean Finlay

Sean Finlay

Director

Sean graduated in Geology from University College Dublin and also holds a Diploma in Management for Engineers from Trinity College Dublin.

Sean worked on many aspects of the Tara Mines zinc lead development at Navan, Co. Meath, before working on gold exploration and mining projects in the Former Soviet Union, Ghana and Mali. He was later involved in several major infrastructure projects in Ireland including energy, waste management and quarries.

Sean has been involved in Geoscience Ireland since its inception in 2011; prior to taking up his role with Geoscience Ireland, he was a Director of TOBIN Consulting Engineers.

Sean is a Professional Geologist (P Geo) and a Chartered Engineer (C Eng) and was President of the Irish Mining and Quarrying Society; he is also Chair of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce’s Infrastructure Committee.

Sheila Russell

Operations Manager

Sheila joined GI in 2022 with ample experience working with major corporate and financial institutions including Ericson and Bank of Ireland.

Sheila is responsible for identifying, tracking and communicating commercial tender opportunities for the network of GI companies and focuses on economic infrastructure projects in the UK and European markets.

Sheila coordinates and manages relationships with the network of 35 GI companies and assists in managing the day-to-day operations of the GI team.

Joe Mongan

Independent Expert

Joe is a member of the Geoscience Ireland Panel of Independent Experts. He manages elements an EU Geothermal Energy project GEE2 and is the principal contact for the Geo Drilling Apprenticeship delivered by the South Eastern Technological University.