Who’s who on the board of Irish Water

The Irish Water board was established in July, 2013, with more members appointed last November following a public advertisement process. It includes members of the board of Bord Gáis, Irish Water's parent company, as well as Irish Water chief executive John Tierney and people from outside both companies. It also includes the chairman of the Longford-Westmeath Labour Party and a Fine Gael councillor for Waterford City.

Rose Hynes
Hynes is the chairwoman of both Bord Gáis and Irish Water, to which she was appointed in July, 2013. She has been chairwoman of Bord Gáis since July, 2009, and also sits on its remuneration and investment and infrastructure committees. A lawyer by profession, she is also chairwoman of the Shannon Airport Authority and is a director of Total Produce and One Fifty One. She previously served on the boards of Fyffes, Aer Lingus and Concern, and held senior positions in the Guinness Peat Aviation group.

Michael McNicholas
McNicholas is Bord Gáis's chief executive, appointed to that position last May. He joined from renewable energy company NTR, where he worked from 2010. Mr McNicholas previously worked for the ESB for 26 years, where he was also an executive director.

John Tierney
Tierney sits on the board in his capacity as managing director of the company, a position he was appointed to in July 2013. He was previously city manager in Dublin and Galway, and county manager in Fingal County Council.

Margaret Rae
Rae was appointed to the board in July, 2013, and is a research fellow at the Ryan Institute in NUI Galway. She also worked as the principal scientist at Water Technologies Ireland and holds a doctorate of philosophy, a master's of science in environmental impact assessment and a diploma in water and environment management.

Regina Finn
Finn is a director of Lucerna Partners, a UK-based consultancy firm and is also a non-executive chairwoman of Belfast- based company Mutual Energy Limited. She is also a former chief executive of Ofwat, the regulator for water and wastewater services in England and Wales.

Billy Moore
Moore was also appointed to the board last November. He has worked for Eircom for 32 years and is a member of the Communications Workers' Union. He is also chairman of the Longford-Westmeath Labour Party. Moore said he applied for the Irish Water board position following a public advertisement.

Jacqueline Hall
Hall is the owner of Partners in Communication, a "business consultancy specialising in public affairs and stakeholder communications", according to the Irish Water website. She has also worked for The Rehab Group, and is a former council member of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

Brian McKeown
McKeown is a civil engineer and started work in Dublin County Council in 1974, moving to Dublin City Council in 1992. He worked as a senior water engineer in the city council until his retirement in 2011.

Coleman Sheehy
Sheehy is involved in property investment and previously worked with Sherry FitzGerald.* He is involved in real estate in Ireland, the UK and central and eastern Europe.

Philip Lee
A solicitor, Lee is described as having "a leading expertise in the area of procurement, competition, trade and construction law and advises clients in relation to the largest public utilities projects" as well as "extensive" experience of public-private partnerships.

Hillary Quinlan
A Fine Gael councillor in Waterford city, Quinlan was also mayor of the city on three occasions. He is a member of numerous boards and committees, such as HSE regional forums. Quinlan, who did not return calls, had a battery charge against him in Illinois dropped by US prosecutors in 2008. He had been arrested by police who were called to the scene of a wedding disturbance.

Seán Kelly
Kelly is a business consultant, software engineer and "author of multiple books on the subject of business intelligence", according to the Irish Water website.

*This article was amended on Thursday, January 16th, 2014