Governance & Management

Geoscience Ireland is headed by Sean Finlay, Director of Business Development and is governed by a cross-department and cross-sector Steering Committee, comprising representatives from Geological Survey Ireland (GSI), Department of Communications Climate Action & Environment (DCCAE), Enterprise Ireland (EI), the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) and Business, Enterprise & Innovation (DBEI) and four GI Members Companies.

Steering Committee

Philip Nugent (Chair)

Philip Nugent (Chair)

Asst. Secretary, Dept. Communications, Climate Action & Environment
Koen Verbruggen (Vice-Chair)

Koen Verbruggen (Vice-Chair)

Director, Geological Survey Ireland
Sean Finlay (Secretary)

Sean Finlay (Secretary)

Business Development Director, Geoscience Ireland
Dermot Reidy

Dermot Reidy

Senior Development Advisor, Enterprise Ireland
Niall Brady

Niall Brady

Trade Division, Dept. Foreign Affairs & Trade
Thomas Murray

Thomas Murray

Principal Officer, Dept. Business, Enterprise & Innovation
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
Andrew Gaynor

Andrew Gaynor

Business Development Manager, Geoscience Ireland
Prof Dermot Duff

Prof Dermot Duff

Trinity College Dublin and the Irish Management Institute

Geoscience Ireland Team

Sean Finlay

Sean Finlay

Business Development 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.

Andrew Gaynor

Andrew Gaynor

Business Development Manager

Andrew is a graduate in Economics, Finance and Geography from NUI Maynooth and further completed an MSc in Sustainable Development from Technical University Dublin.

Having worked for Bank of Ireland Global Markets for some years, Andrew undertook his MSc in 2012 focusing on European policy and natural resources; he completed his MSc dissertation on the ‘Social Licence to Operate’, during this period, he worked with SLR Consulting (Ireland) on numerous projects, including a social licence auditing tool.

Andrew was appointed Business Development Executive at Geoscience Ireland in September 2014, progressing to Business Development Manager in 2017. He is responsible for managing GI’s market advisory capacity in identifying and assessing overseas commercial opportunities for Irish companies in the natural resources, infrastructure and environment sectors.

Andrew also works closely with stakeholders in representing and promoting GI companies at key market events and tradeshows including PDAC, Toronto; AME Roundup, Vancouver; Mining INDABA, Cape Town and the Mining Show, Dubai.

Andrew is also the Executive Secretary of the Irish Mining and Quarrying Society and serves on the Dublin council of the Causeway: Ireland Scotland Business Exchange.

Stephen D. Walsh

Stephen D. Walsh

Senior Market Advisor

Stephen holds an MSc in Planning and Sustainable Development (University College Cork) and an MA in Local Development and Innovation (Technical University Dublin).

Prior to joining GI in 2017, Stephen was Senior Planning Consultant with Future Analytics Consulting Ltd; he is also Director of Panacea Research which specialises in geospatial planning research.

As Senior Market Advisor to GI, Stephen is responsible for assessing commercial project opportunities in the Geoscience Ireland target markets; Stephen targets projects for the natural resources, renewable energy and civil infrastructure sectors with particular focus on developing and emerging economies.

Stephen is also Industry Liaison to IT Carlow with regard to coordinating the development of the Geo Drilling Apprenticeship programme which is focussed on providing a formal qualification for drilling operatives in Ireland.

He holds Corporate Membership of the Irish Planning Institute and Associate Membership of the Institute of Economic Development. In addition, he sits on the Energy Committee of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce.

Jessica Allen

Jessica Allen

Market Advisor

Jessica joined GI in 2019 with ample experience working with major corporate and financial institutions including Siemens, EY, Deutsche Bank and Bank of Ireland.

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

Jessica represents GI Companies at a number of European conferences and exhibitions in the sectors including transport infrastructure and renewable energy.

She coordinates and manages relationships with the network of 40 GI companies and assists in managing the day-to-day operations of the GI team; Jessica also serves on the Communications Committee of Geological Survey Ireland.

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