NMH Foundation Board
The NMH Foundation is grateful for our incredible Board of Directors, who volunteer their time to provide counsel and support to us all year long.
The Board of Directors have declared full compliance with the governance code for community, voluntary and charitable organisations.
Mary Rose Burke (Chair) - Mary Rose is the Chief Executive Officer of Dublin Chamber. Prior to joining Dublin Chamber, Mary Rose held the position of Director of Corporate, Strategic and International Affairs for Ibec since 2013 having moved from the position of Director of Pharmacy at Boots Ireland which she held for 8 years.
Prior to joining Boots Mary Rose worked at the HSE, and previously established and managed her own business. She has also been a council member of Chambers Ireland and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Mary Rose is a pharmacist and former Council member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Bord na Mona.
Professor Shane Higgins - Shane is the Master of The National Maternity Hospital. He is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, with subspecialty in Maternal and Foetal Medicine. He has a broad range of clinical and management experience in Australia, Scotland and Ireland and has special interests in preterm birth, labour ward management, and recurrent pregnancy loss.
Ronan Gavin - Ronan is the Secretary / Manager of The National Maternity Hospital and has worked in The NMH for over 20 years. Prior to joining The NMH Ronan worked as a manager at Price Waterhouse Cooper. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and holds a degree in Business Studies.
Dr John Murphy - John is a Consultant Paediatrician in The National Maternity Hospital and Paediatric & Neonatal Clinical Lead with the HSE in Clinical Strategy and Programmes Directorate. His is also editor of the Irish Medical Journal.
Sarah Gallagher - Sarah is the Legal Director of Tesco Ireland and is responsible for overseeing the legal and compliance functions across Tesco Ireland’s business. Sarah joined Tesco in 2012 as Legal Director, prior to which she spent four years at Eircom as Director of Commercial Legal Services. Sarah champions health and safety under Tesco’s sustainability strategy. She is also a board member of Tesco Mobile Ireland and has responsibility for IT within the Tesco Ireland business.
William Thavenot - William is a communications consultant with 17 years’ diverse experience in Ireland, the UK and Brussels, across both the public and private sectors. Past roles include as Director of Marketing and Business Development at a leading Irish law firm and as Head of Public Affairs at Westminster City Council, with an MA in English Literature from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. William brings direct experience of the Foundation’s work, having fundraised for a new bereavement suite in the NMH following the sad death of his baby daughter, Florence, in 2021.
Professor Peter McParland - Peter was a Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist at the National Maternity Hospital and retired in 2022 after 30 years service. Trained in Dublin, Bristol, London and Toronto and is an Associate Clinical Professor at UCD. His special interests are in Maternal Fetal Medicine, high risk pregnancies and prenatal diagnosis.
Sharon Foley - Sharon is a highly accomplished healthcare and charity leader with over three decades of management experience in the public, charitable, and not-for-profit sectors. She is recognised for her strategic change management skills and capacity to foster collaboration, drive impactful transformations, advocate for improved healthcare and fundraise effectively. Currently operating as a management consultant, Sharon spent 11 years as Chief Executive of the Irish Hospice Foundation and served as the founding CEO of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. She is passionate about improving women's health. Her diverse background includes roles as a Director of Health Promotion, senior dietitian, and management consultant. Beyond her professional roles, Sharon has chaired the Family Support Agency, contributed to policy development groups, served on various boards and regularly volunteers in her own community and abroad.
Anne Cusack - Following a degree in Science from University College Dublin and a doctorate from Trinity College, Anne worked in cancer research, before entering the business world with Reckitt Benckiser, Pfizer and Biotrin. Anne gained significant international experience across clinical trials, product launches and business development which led to Anne co-founding Critical Healthcare in 2000.
A qualified Non-Executive Director from the Institute of Directors, Anne serves on a number of boards, including Bord na Mona, and the Technological University Shannon Midlands Midwest. Anne has served as Chair of the Midlands Regional Enterprise Plan since 2019 and is a member of the SME & Entrepreneurship Taskforce and the EU Just Transition Monitoring Committee.