We are governed by a Board of Directors made up of people with a range of skills and expertise including people with asthma and people with financial, marketing and business backgrounds. The Board is responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the organisation. Board members are all volunteers and do not receive any pay for their work in this capacity.
The Board also has two Committees:
- Audit, Risk & Finance Committee (Terms of Reference PDF)
- Fundraising & Communications Committee
You can find the organisation's Annual Reports and audited accounts for the past number of years here.
Paul Keogh, Chairperson
Paul Keogh attended UCD where he received a B. Comm and a Master’s degree in International Marketing. He brings a wealth of experience to the role of Chair, having served in senior leadership positions in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. He currently sits on the board of a number of family businesses as well as educational boards, charities, chamber of commerce, and Sunderland Football Club. He was also Chair of the Hermitage Medical Centre. Paul is Founder and CEO Paul Keogh & Associates and of Elder Lemons PR Agency.
Dr Marcus Butler, Medical Director
Marcus Butler graduated in Medicine from NUI Galway, obtained his MD from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and completed fellowship training at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He was appointed to faculty there as an attending physician in pulmonary and critical care, in addition to having joint appointments at the departments of Medicine and Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is now a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, a member of the HSE National Clinical Programme Clinical Advisory Group, the former President (2021-2023) of the Irish Thoracic Society, and Ireland representative on the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Assembly. He established a severe asthma clinical service in St. Vincent's University Hospital, which he co-leads and has co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters in the international medical literature. One of his children has asthma. Dr. Butler is an Associate Professor/Consultant Respiratory Physician at University College Dublin & St Vincent’s University Hospital.
Hilary Gormley, Chair of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee
Hilary has approximately 30 years’ experience in the Financial Services Industry with Allied Irish Banks and has held a number of senior roles across the business, enjoying a wide and varied career across Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Corporate Banking in AIB Capital Markets, and Financial Solutions Group, both in Ireland and the UK.
Hilary is passionate about developing high performing teams and delivering for her customers and stakeholders and has successfully completed multiple highly complex strategic commitments for the organisation from leading enterprise strategic change programmes, managing large teams in different geographies, managing complex customer portfolios and completing large portfolio transactions. Hilary holds a Degree in Financial Services and has completed the Harvard General Management Programme. She is a member of The Institute of Bankers and Managing Director of AIB UK Plc.
Ciaran McGloin, Audit, Risk and Finance Committee
Ciaran is a qualified accountant with a 25-year career specialising in private equity, financial services and financial technology businesses. Ciaran held several senior management roles with high-growth Irish and global businesses. He started his career at ICC Venture Capital where he spent 15 years. He subsequently spent six years with the ION Investment Group, a global leader in the provision of mission-critical software to financial institutions and corporates. Ciaran is currently a Managing Director at Novacies Capital, an Irish and UK based private equity firm focused on mid-market companies in the financial technology sector.
Áine Nolan, Audit, Risk and Finance Committee
Áine is a qualified accountant, having trained in Price Waterhouse Coopers and has held senior finance roles in both ESB and Irish Distillers Pernod-Ricard before joining Microsoft. Áine holds a degree in Business and French from the University of Limerick. She is passionate about raising asthma awareness, as she is a mother of a young child with asthma and her husband is a lifelong asthmatic. Áine is Chief Financial Officer for Microsoft Ireland, partnering with the Sales Leaders for Public Sector and Enterprise Commercial to exceed business objectives, identifying areas of business opportunity and potential risks, and building out three year plans for future growth.
James Dunny, Fundraising and Communications Committee
With over 20 years’ communications experience, James is a consultant reputation management specialist and worked in a number of communications agencies including his most recent roles as a Director and EMEA Head of Crisis Management for FleishmanHillard and External Communications Director at Kerry Group.
James had asthma for over 20 years before it disappeared after a year-long trip to Australia. He is married to Melanie and has two girls and a boy. James is now a freelancer in crisis management and a communications consultant.
Catherine Lonergan, Fundraising and Communication Committee
Catherine is an experienced commercial sales and marketing professional, specialising in customer value management, retention, sales, and channel delivery, having held senior roles in several large corporate organisations in Ireland. In March 2020, she founded CLR Consulting, a customer management consultancy where creating and implementing strategies that add value to the customer and that deliver long term value for companies is its strategic mission. Since January 2024, Catherine has been Director of Energy, Marketing & Data at Bord Gáis Energy. With over 20 years commercial experience, her practical and strategic expertise has led to a results-focused approach to work. She has delivered transformational changes within the companies she has worked and driven large teams to have a sustainable impact on business performance.
Catherine was diagnosed with asthma as an adult after a brief illness. A tennis and running enthusiast, she is passionate about the benefits of exercise for asthmatics and educating others about living a full sporty and healthy life with this illness. Catherine is the CCO in Toovio, a US MarTech company delivering trigger-based marketing solutions using AI and runs the EMEA office in Dublin.
Aoife Stokes, Fundraising and Communications Committee
Aoife Stokes is a media expert, award-winning producer and journalist with +20 years’ experience in broadcasting across the independent production sector, RTÉ, TV3 and Virgin Media.
After graduating with a degree in Journalism from DIT, Aoife spent 12-years at RTÉ including as Executive Producer of Claire Byrne Live, Deputy Editor of Prime Time, Late Late Show Researcher and Producer of multiple reports, documentaries and series.She went on to spend six years at senior management level at TV3/ Virgin Media Television as Head of Factual and subsequently Head of Programming.
Aoife is currently studying for a Masters in Business at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and is a committee member of the Royal Television Society.
Diagnosed with chronic asthma at the age of three, she remains under treatment for asthma and now has a 2-year-old son with suspected asthma and a one-year-old daughter. Despite this, Aoife regularly practices yoga, runs and has completed two half marathons among many other races.
Dr Maitiú O’Faoláin, Ordinary Board Member
A former Medical Education Tutor with the Irish College of General Practitioners, Dr. Ó Faoláin is a current member of the national GP committee of the Irish Medical Organisation, with extensive experience in GP contract negotiations across several governmental departments. He holds a Masters in Management from Smurfit Business School, having received his vocational GP training via Trinity College Dublin. He set up the first GP Mass Vaccination Centre at the Helix in Dublin City University as well as the Covid-19 Community Assessment Hubs. Dr Maitiú Ó Faoláin is a GP in Deerpark Medical Centre, Co. Meath.
Deirdre Ardagh, Ordinary Board Member
Deirdre is an experienced legal professional with over 14 years of post-qualification experience specialising in corporate law supporting her clients with their legal and regulatory needs. She commenced her career in IDA Ireland working across the organisation in areas such as its Strategic Business Group and EU regulatory initiatives. She is currently working in-house with Three Ireland as their Senior Privacy and Public Policy Counsel. Deirdre is skilled in data protection, commercial law, administrative law, European law, and strategy. She is recognised for her proven track record of crafting innovative and successful legal and public policy strategies, delivering growth and impact for her clients across the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to joining Three Ireland, Deirdre was a Partner at Sherwin O’Riordan, focusing on corporate and not-for-profit clients in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganisations, restructuring, and corporate advisory matters including private equity and venture capital. Deirdre is qualified as a solicitor with the Law Society of Ireland, as a barrister with The Honourable Society of Kings Inns and is an accredited Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Mediator. She is a Masters graduate in Economics from University College Dublin and holds a Masters in Public Sector Management from the Institute of Public Administration. Deirdre is Senior Privacy and Public Policy Counsel at Three Ireland.
Deirdre believes strongly in the mission of the Asthma Society and in working with the Board and management team to deliver on its strategy to improve the quality of lives impacted by asthma.
