SEAI board

Appointed August 2020

Dermot's background is in utility engineering and management. He was CEO of EirGrid through its initiation and growth phase, from 2005 to 2012. Prior to that he served as Head of ESB Networks. Since retiring from EirGrid, Dermot has served on a number of Boards, including that of Element Power - a wind development company. He currently chairs an Irish overseas development agency, VITA, with a strong focus on rural communities and climate action in East Africa.

Dermot is a Fellow of Engineers Ireland and served as its president in 2016 / 17. On behalf of DCENR (now DCCAE) he chaired an expert group to develop a national Energy Research Strategy. The report of the group, Energy Innovation Ireland was published in 2016.

William Walsh is Chief Executive Officer in SEAI, having previously held the position of both Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer. William joined SEAI in 2013. Prior to joining SEAI he worked for Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) where he held a number of roles including Assistant Chief Executive Officer and Director. Prior to that he held senior management positions in the private sector. William is a Chartered Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Dublin City University, a Graduate Diploma in Strategy, Innovation and Change from UCD and a Diploma in Company Direction from the IOD.

Sharon is a Fellow and Chartered Director of the Institute of Directors with over twenty-five years senior leadership experience. A Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel Development, she is also professionally qualified in Marketing. Previous roles include Chair of the Education Authority NI and Chief Executive of Derry City Council.  Sharon has a strong interest in local government and served on the Accounts Commission for Scotland and the National Oversight and Audit Commission. Previous and current work spans the private, public and community/voluntary sectors as a business owner and consultant. She is particularly interested in community planning, regeneration and innovation in the public sector. Sharon has recently been appointed as Chair of Audit and Risk in the Department for Communities (NI) and Non Executive Member of the Scruntiny Board of the Northern Ireland Investment Fund.

Léan is European Director for Cities, Planning & Design at Arup. She has over 25 years of experience advising city and national government and private sector organisations around the world on sustainable development projects incorporating urban development and regeneration, digital, nature+, transport, energy and climate action. She leads Arup’s partnership with C40, focussing on joint research and activities to promote city climate action. Before joining Arup in London in 2003, Léan completed a Masters degree in urban policy and design at the London School of Economics. Her primary degree is in Mathematics from Trinity College Dublin.

Joe has 30 years’ experience in the Energy, Sustainability, Forestry and Digital Technologies sectors. He has worked in Ireland, the UK, USA, Africa, and the Balkans.  An Agricultural Science Graduate from UCD, he has an MBA (UCC) and a Diploma in Company Direction (Institute of Directors).  Having founded, scaled, and sold his own renewable energy business between 2008 and 2017 he has held senior management positions covering areas such as general management, strategy, commercialisation, sales & marketing, and fundraising. He is currently CEO at Gresham House Ireland, a speciality asset manager, which focuses on Natural Capital, Commercial Real Estate, Sustainable Infrastructure and public & private equities. He holds board positions with Treemetrics - a SaaS business based in Cork, Fairways and FunDays - Europe's leading Golf Tour operator, and Lochlann Enterprises - a technical consultancy business in the Pharma sector.

Robert's background is in renewables, utility management and regulation, asset management and management consulting.  On the utility side, he held various senior management roles in ESB and ESB International, both in Ireland and overseas.  He was responsible for transitioning Northern Ireland Electricity into new ownership following its acquisition by ESB, then becoming an Executive Director. Previous board work includes as an NED at Drogheda Port, and two terms as Chair of Lagan Valley Regional Park in Northern Ireland.  In consulting, he led KPMG's Strategy and Performance Improvement practice in Ireland, and went on to found Watershed Consulting, which became a leading boutique consultancy and interim management provider. Robert is an MBA alumnus of the Smurfit School at UCD and is a Chartered Director.  He is a member of both the Institute of Directors, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology in the UK.

Maria (appointed 17 June 2022), is Infrastructure Delivery Director with Uisce Eireann and a Chartered engineer with over 20 years' experience in the engineering and utility sector. She is an effective and strategic leader, with a keen focus on delivering through empowering people. In her career to date Maria has held a number of senior management roles in both Gas Networks Ireland and Uisce Eireann where she had responsibility for delivering large multifaceted programmes and national transformations. Maria has a Research Master's degree in Engineering Science augmenting her primary degree in Electronic Engineering (University College Dublin). Maria also holds Postgraduate Diplomas in Supply Chain Management (University College Cork), Business and Executive Coaching (Smurfit Business School) and a Diploma in Company Direction (Institute of Directors). Maria previously served as a Director on the Board of Irish Water.

Barry is an Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Engineering and Computing at Dublin City University. He has worked and published across a wide variety of fields, with a special focus on the interdisciplinary application of complex systems science. In recent years, he led research projects investigating the potential role of negative emissions technologies in Ireland, the application of multi-gas greenhouse gas budgets in national climate action scenarios, and the use of open access software and datasets in developing deep decarbonisation scenarios for the Irish energy system. He held various senior roles in DCU including serving as Faculty Executive Dean, and as a member of DCU’s Academic Council, Senior Management Group, and University Executive Committee. He is a current member of the Council of Engineers Ireland, and of the An Taisce Climate Change Committee.

Ciarán Hayes is Principal of Ciarán Hayes Consultancy Ltd., a consultancy established in 2021 providing strategic advice to the public and private sector.  Over a long Local Government career across five Local Authorities, he has 21 years senior management experience culminating as Chief Executive of Sligo County Council.  While Chief Executive, he established the Climate Action Regional Offices (CARO) and governance structure facilitating the management of Local Government's sectoral challenges and opportunities arising from the circular economy, sustainability, and climate change.  He completed a Harvard University Senior Fellowship in December 2022 researching climate change, holds a BA Degree in Local Government and Higher Diploma in Computer Studies.  The Senior Fellowship followed earlier periods of study in Harvard, Boston College and Irish College, Leuven, Belgium.  He was appointed a member of the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in July 2021.   

Lisa is the CEO of the Tipperary Energy Agency, a Chartered Director and experienced non-executive director . She has worked with communities, public and private sector organisations on their sustainability strategies. She held senior management roles in Engineers Ireland and Enterprise Ireland with extensive experience in business transformation, scale up and innovation. Lisa is a non-executive director of Electric Ireland Superhome and of Bord Iascaigh Mhara where she chaired the Audit and Risk and Remuneration committees. Prior to this Lisa was the Chair of a non-profit, WorkEqual. Lisa holds a B.Comm (University of Galway),MA (DCU), Dip in Executive Coaching (UCD) and Diploma in Strategy(INSEAD). 

Barry has over 25 years’ experience in clean energy infrastructure covering the decarbonisation of a number of the major emitting sectors including; Power, Transport and Commercial and Residential Heating and Cooling. Barry also brings a wealth of board experience, as an Executive and Non-Executive director, across multiple sectors, organisations structures and organisation sizes, in both regulated and non-regulated sectors. He is also the chair of the Midwest Sustainability Network.

Barry is a graduate of DCU (BA and MBA). He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He is a member of the Institute of Directors (Dip IoD) and a graduate of the Oxford University Saïd Business School. Barry is also an Adjunct lecturer at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and at the University of Galway, where he lectures in Sustainable Finance.