Liam Aylward

Liam Aylward is a Fianna Fáil MEP representing Ireland’s East constituency, first elected to the European Parliament in 2004. He sits on the European Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee and has served as Vice Chairman of the Temporary Committee on Climate Change. He has been a member of Dáil Éireann since 1977 and has held a number of ministerial roles.

Thomas Barrett

Thomas Barrett is the Director responsible for the EIB’s Structured Finance and Advisory Activities throughout the European Union and for the EIB/EU Action for Growth Initiative. He is currently also the Director of the EIB’s Centres of Expertise on Trans-European Networks (TENs) and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs); on Energy and Environment and on the Knowledge Economy / Lisbon Agenda.

Nicholas Bond

Nicholas Bond is the Senior Engineer (Waste Section) in the Environment Directorate of Cork County Council. He began his local government career in the Northern Division of Cork County Council in 2003 and moved to the Environment Directorate in 2006 where he set up and led the Waste Enforcement Team. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer with a postgraduate diploma in Environmental Engineering.

Donal Buckley

Donal Buckley is Head of Business Infrastructure at IBEC where he is responsible for information provision, policy development and representation of IBEC members on energy, environment and transport issues. Prior to joining IBEC in 1999 he worked in the private sector in a number of technical and consultancy roles.

Dr Gerry Byrne

Dr Gerry Byrne joined the Environmental Protection Agency in 1999 as Programme Manager and worked extensively for a number of years on the licensing and enforcement of IPPC industry.  More recently his work in the EPA involves managing the National Waste Prevention Programme including the National Waste Report and the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan.  Dr Byrne is the chairman of the National Waste Prevention Committee.  He previously worked in a variety of senior management positions in the pharmaceutical industry.

Martin Cronin

Martin Cronin was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Forfás in May 2002. He is a member of the National Competitiveness Council, the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, the Higher Education Authority, the Management Board of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Board of the Tyndall National Institute. Prior to joining Forfás he was Director of Operations in IDA Ireland. He previously worked in industry for General Electric Inc and the ESB.

Michael Cunningham

Michael Cunningham is Managing Director of White Young Green Ireland Environmental. An environmental scientist by profession he has worked in Ireland as an Environmental Consultant for over 17 years. Michael has assisted a number of clients in the promotion and development of a range of projects involving renewable energy. He has campaigned on the need for change in government policy if Ireland is to establish itself as a producer of renewable energy.

Paul Cunningham

Paul Cunningham has been RTÉ's Environment Correspondent since 2001. As well as various
domestic stories, Paul has reported on the floods in New Orleans, negotiations on the Kyoto Agreement in Montreal and the retreat of the Greenland ice sheet. Paul previously reported on the infection of people with haemophilia with HIV and Hepatitis C from contaminated blood products. In recognition of these reports he won ESB National Radio Journalist of the Year and an Irish Film and Television Award. Paul is the author of the recentlypublished book ‘Ireland’s Burning: How climate change will affect you’.

Joseph Curtin

Joseph Curtin is Senior Researcher at the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin, with responsibility for the areas of climate change and energy policy. He is project leader of the IIEA’s climate change working group – a stakeholders consultation on Ireland’s climate change policy in the post-2012 period - and lead author of the Institute’s series of policy briefs on the EU’s climate change and energy package.

Jerry Dempsey

Jerry Dempsey is working as Sales & Marketing Director for Greenstar, one of Ireland’s leading integrated waste management companies. Prior to joining Greenstar he worked with United Drug plc where he gained over seven years experience in various sales and marketing posts worldwide. Prior to that Jerry held various sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibilities with a range of pharmaceutical multinational companies.

John Donnelly

Following a twenty-seven year career with P. J.Walls Ltd, John Donnelly established his Purchasing & Waste Management training & Consultancy business in 2001 and now works alongside over 65% of the major Irish construction companies.  He has delivered waste management concepts to over 6,000 construction specialists worldwide including addressing members of the 42,000 strong CIOB at seminars in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong & Australia.

Professor Frank Gannon

Frank Gannon was appointed as Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Director General in 2007. Professor Gannon joined SFI from his position as Executive Director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and Senior Scientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Prior to his appointment at EMBO, Prof Gannon was Director of the National Diagnostic Centre and Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology at University College Galway.

Campbell Gemmell

Campbell Gemmell has been Chief Executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency since 2003. He chairs the Frontline Delivery Project Board of the Scottish Environment and Rural Services
project which is delivering joined-up services across a range of organisations to reduce administrative burdens on and streamline services to the rural community. He joined SEPA in 2001 as Director of Strategic Planning and was Chairman of the Dounreay Particles Advisory Group from June 2001 to April 2003.

John Gormley, TD

John Gormley, TD is Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, a position he took up in June 2007. He represents the Dublin South East constituency for the Green Party, having been first elected to the Dáil in June 1997. He is currently party spokesperson on foreign affairs, defence and health and children. He is a member of Earthwatch, Amnesty International and the Chartered Institute of Water Management.

Bernie Guinan

Bernie Guinan is an Associate with Fehily Timoney & Company with ten years experience. Bernie has extensive experience in all aspects of sludge, solid and biowaste strategic planning and procurement. Bernie is the assistant Project Manager for the client’s representative team for the provision of Integrated Waste Services for the South East Region. Bernie is responsible for the Environmental Engineering Group in FTC’s Dublin Office, overseeing projects in Waste Management, Sludge Management and Waste Licence Compliance.

Andrea Gysin

Andrea Gysin is responsible for Mouchel’s Technology and Investment division. She launched the Technology Approval Group (TAG) in the UK water industry in 2005 – a consortium which engages industry representatives to aide the development and commercialisation of new technology. Andrea has experience of business development and commercial management for technology companies across water and environmental sectors.

Cllr David Healy

Cllr David Healy has been a member of the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas for 20 years. He was elected to Dublin County Council, later Fingal County Council, from 1991 to 1999. He was re-elected in 2004. On the Council, David is Chair of the Environment Strategic Policy Committee (SPC). As Chair of an SPC, he is automatically a member of the Corporate Policy Group of the Council and of Fingal Development Board. David is also a member of the Transport SPC. David has a background in law and environmental science and works with environmental NGOs and in research. He speaks Irish and Esperanto.

Mary Kelly

Mary Kelly is the Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency, having taken up the post in May 2002. Mary holds a PhD in Chemistry from Trinity College Dublin, and an MBA from Dublin City University. She previously worked with IBEC where she was involved in policy development in the environmental area. She was involved in setting up REPAK, the packaging recycling initiative. She was also a member of Comhar and the Advisory Committee of the EPA.

Tony Keohane

Tony Keohane was appointed Chief Executive of Tesco Ireland in 2006. He has spent his career in retailing, involving diverse roles at all levels of the business. He began his career with the Quinnsworth business in 1978 before becoming a Director of Tesco Ireland in 1997, where he held
numerous positions including Supply Chain Director where he led the significant transformation of the grocery supply chain infrastructure in Ireland.

Richard Linger

Richard Linger joined White Young Green in 2006 having worked with Deloitte Consulting in the UK and Kvaerner Engineering for 17 years. He has worked predominantly in the energy sector on a range of high profile projects. These include NETA, BP/Castrol post merger integration and SHELL supply chain transformation projects. Richard returned to Ireland and is now based in Cork. Recent Irish projects include management of the SEI Reheat and CHP promotion programmes and South Docklands Sustainability Strategy for Howard Holdings.

Professor Richard Macrory

Richard Macrory teaches within the Faculty of Law at University College London. He is a former Director of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University. In 2005 Professor Macrory was appointed by the Cabinet Office to lead a review on regulatory sanctions applicable to business. The final report, ‘Regulatory Justice – Making Sanctions Effective’ was published at the end of 2006 and all the recommendations accepted by government. He is a former Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and Board Member of the Environment Agency in England and Wales.

Tatiana Márquez Uriarte

Tatiana Márquez Uriarte is desk officer in the Directorate General of Environment in the European
Commission since 2006. She is involved in the internal coordination of the Directorate and in the strategic planning and programming of EC environmental policy. Before joining the Commission, she
was Teaching Assistant in the College of Europe (Bruges) in the Department of European Political and Administrative Studies. She qualified from Deusto University (Bilbao) as a lawyer and specialised in EU law and Politics in the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the College of Europe.

Danny McCoy

Danny McCoy is Director of Policy at the Irish Business & Employers Confederation (IBEC). He is a member of the National and Economic and Social Council, the National Statistics Board, a board member of FAS (National Training Body) and the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. Prior to joining IBEC he was a Senior Research Officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and an economist in the Central Bank of Ireland.

Dr Frank McGovern

Dr Frank McGovern is Senior Manager Climate Research Programme with the Environmental Protection Agency.  He has more than twelve years research experience in the areas of climate change and air pollution, including work on international research projects funded by the European Commission and World Meteorological Office.  He joined the EPA in 2000.  He is a member of EU Expert Group on Climate Science and is a regular delegate to meetings of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

Declan Murphy

Declan Murphy is the Director of Met Éireann, the Irish Meteorological Service. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Physics from University College, Cork, and his career in Met Éireann included spells as an operational forecaster and as IT Manager. He has represented Ireland in many international meteorological organisations and has recently completed a four-year term as Chairman of the Council of EUMETSAT, the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation.

Eanna Ni Lamhna

Eanna Ni Lamhna is a botanist and an ecologist from Co. Louth. She lectures in Sustainable Development in the Dublin Institute of Technology. She is a broadcaster on the new Mooney Programme on Friday 3-5pm having featured for the previous eleven years on the Mooney goes Wild Saturday show. She is the first woman president of An Taisce – a prestigious appointment that she has held since 2004. Her most recent book Wild Dublin, a lavishly illustrated book about all the
wildlife that lives inside the M50, is just published.

Martin O'Brien

Martin O’Brien is a sociologist who has researched health and social policy, criminal justice policy and environmental policy. He is the author of A Crisis of Waste? Understanding the Rubbish Society (New York: Routledge, 2007) and editor of several books, including Integrating and Articulating Environments: A Challenge for Northern and Southern Europe (Swets & Zeitlinger, 2003). He is currently Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.

John O'Connor

John O’Connor was appointed Chairperson of the Board of An Bord Pleanala for in May 2000, and was re-appointed until 12 June, 2011. Prior to his appointment he had been an Assistant Secretary in the Department of Environment and Local Government in charge of the Planning and Development Division, with responsibility for Planning, Spatial Planning, Urban and Village Development, Construction, Water Services and Public Private Partnerships. Prior to that he served as Principal Officer in the Housing Policy and Finance Section of the Department and as the Department's Finance Officer.

Barry O'Leary

Barry O’Leary took up his role as Chief Executive of IDA Ireland in January 2008. Prior to this appointment he was Divisional Manager of the IDA’s LifeSciences and Information and Communications Technology business units. He has worked in IDA for over 30 years and has been
deeply involved in changing the profile and raising the value of Ireland’s inward investments over the past ten years. He has been primarily responsible for the successful establishment of Ireland as the leading global location outside the US for biopharmaceuticals.

Tom O'Mahony

Tom O’Mahony is an Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. He is responsible for the Environment Division, which deals with policy on issues such as climate change, waste management, nuclear safety and sustainable development. He has previously worked in the Departments of Health, Finance and Agriculture and holds Masters Degrees in Economics and Public Sector Analysis.

Professor Martin Parry

Martin Parry is Co-Chair of Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Formerly he was Professor of Geography at the
Universities of Oxford, University College London, Birmingham and University of East Anglia. He is
currently a visiting professor at Imperial College, University of London. He was chairman of the UK Climate Change Impacts Review Group, and a coordinating lead author in the IPCC first, second and third assessments.

Stephen Peover

Stephen Peover has been Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment since 2003. Prior to this, he held a number of senior positions within the Department of Education, and formerly worked in the Department of Health. During this time he completed a number of secondments, to the Eastern Health and Social Services Board and the Department of Finance and Personnel.

Tom Rowe

Tom Rowe is the Operating Group Director for Engineering & Environment business stream within
Mouchel. He is responsible for this 750 strong group, which operates across the UK and Ireland in the Water, Utility and Environmental sectors. The group encompasses all engineering disciplines, scientists and professional staff working in these fields.

Deborah Spence

Deborah Spence is head of the Planning and Environment Group at Arthur Cox. She and her team advise on all aspects of planning and environmental law, including waste management liability, corporate regulatory compliance, contaminated sites liability, all aspects of permitting and licensing, environmental impact assessment and environmental and planning issues arising in major infrastructural projects.

Duncan Stewart

Duncan Stewart is presenter and producer of RTE’s top-rating environmental series, Eco Eye. Duncan is an award-winning architect and energy consultant and is well-known for his far-reaching interest in environmental issues. Duncan has also produced and presented many environmental TV documentary series.

Eamon Timoney

Eamon Timoney is Managing Director of Fehily Timoney & Company. Eamon has over 30 years
experience as a Consulting Engineer. Eamon’s key areas of experience include solid waste management and regulatory compliance, road and bridgeworks, local authority infrastructure and industrial projects in the pharma-chem industry. He advises local authorities and the private sector in strategic planning areas and acts as an expert witness in his areas of expertise.

Sharon Turner

Sharon Turner specialises in Environmental Law particularly, the EU and Irish dimensions (North and
South). She is the lead author of the established text on environmental law in Northern Ireland and editor of two edited collections. Professor Turner has returned to Queen's from a two-year secondment to the Department of the Environment (DoE) in Northern Ireland during which time she acted as the Department's senior legal advisor on the environment where she advised on the development of environmental policy and legislation.