Board Members

Aidan Murphy was appointed as Chair of CIÉ for a period of five years with effect from 26th June 2024. He had already served on the CIÉ Board between 2014 and 2021. He served as a director on the Bus Éireann board from 2013 to 2021 and was its Chair from 2014 to 2021. In addition, Aidan also served as one of the CIÉ Board nominated members of the 1951 Superannuation Scheme Committee from July 2022 to November 2023.
 
Aidan has extensive experience as a supply chain professional having held positions as Chief Operating Officer of Carlow Precast, Chief Executive Officer of Pulse Logistics, Managing Director Supply at C&C Group, General Manager Wincanton Ireland, Group Head of Logistics at Fyffes plc and Logistics Director at Allegro Group. He has held a number of directorships in such companies as Urban Green Private, Roadbridge Holdings, Lucey Transport Logistics, FLI Global, M&M Walshe Group and Allegro. He has been a keynote speaker to several European supply chain events, including Logicon and the European Supply Chain Summit and is a Fellow and past President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Ireland.

Jimmy Doran was appointed to the CIÉ Board in December 2021 under the Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Acts 1977 to 2001. He chairs the CIÉ Board Sustainability Committee.

Jimmy completed his electrical apprenticeship with CIÉ from 1980-84 and then having worked on the building sites of London for six years he returned to work as an electrician for Bus Átha Cliath in Clontarf Garage in 1991 where he has remained since.

Jimmy was elected as a shop steward in 1993 and is the principal negotiator for Connect trade union on all issues in CIÉ, Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and on the negotiating committee for Irish Rail.

Jimmy is a Pension Trustee of the Regular Wages Scheme having been elected in 2022.

He is a member of the Connect Trade Union National Executive Committee, the chair of its National Transport Consultative Committee, and represents the union on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) Health and Safety Committee and the ICTU Transport Group.

He is a member of the Executive committee of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions and is a member of the Fingal County Council Housing Special Policy Committee.

Working in public transport is a family tradition for three generations of Doran's as is trade union activism, his namesake and Grandfather being a founder member of Connect trade union’s predecessor the IES&FTU in 1920.

Stephen Hannan was re-appointed to the CIÉ Board in December 2021 under the Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Acts 1977 to 2001. He works as a bus driver based in Ringsend Garage. He is a member of SIPTU and has held a wide variety of positions within the trade union for over 30 years: President of the Bus Drivers Committee; Vice-Chair of the Transport Sector Committee; the Divisional Committee, Depot Representative to name but a few.

Dermot Healy was appointed to the Board of CIÉ in December 2021 under the Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Acts 1977 to 2001.

He is employed as a bus driver with Bus Éireann based at Roxboro Depot in Limerick. He joined CIÉ in 1983 as a junior dining car attendant before moving to the Road Passenger Section the following year taking up such roles as Office Assistant and Bus Conductor prior to his current position as a driver since 1991.

He has been active in his union, the NBRU, since 1997 when he was first elected to his local branch committee. He served as both Vice-Chair and Chair of the Limerick Branch prior to being elected to the National Executive Council in 1999. As a member of the NBRU National Negotiating Team. He has extensive experience in Industrial Relations issues including several WRC negotiations and Labour Court hearings.

Miriam Hughes was appointed to the Board of CIÉ on 26th April 2022. She is a Chartered Director from the Institute of Directors (IOD), an Independent Strategic Business Consultant, Chair and a Non-Executive Director.

Miriam was appointed as Chair of the Bus Éireann board in February 2022. She has been a member of that board since 2019 and has served as Chair of its Board Safety and Accessibility Committee, as a member of its Audit and Risk Committee, Sustainability Committee and Board Strategy Committee.

Miriam is also currently the Board Chair of the Advertising Standards of Ireland, the Board Chair of Eir, Chair of CareChoice nursing homes, Chair and centrally bank approved for Cornmarket insurance and Chair and an independent Non-Executive Director of Pluto.

Miriam is a former Chief Executive Officer of DDFH&B, one of Ireland’s largest communications groups, formerly Marketing Director of Nestlé, Head of Communications for Bank of Ireland and held other marketing roles at Smith & Nephew and AIB.

Miriam is a graduate of UCD and holds a BComm and Master’s in marketing. She is a past Chair of Barnardo’s Charity in Ireland, Past President of the Marketing Institute of Ireland, Past Chair of the Advertisers Association of Ireland, Past Council Member of Dublin Chamber, Past Board Member of the Irish Hospice Foundation and a Past Council Member of the Irish Management Institute.

Bio to follow

Steve Murphy was appointed to the board of Iarnród Éireann on 15th June 2023. Steve was appointed as its Chair on 5th January 2024 and was appointed to the Board of CIÉ on 23rd January 2024

Steve was CEO for MTR UK from 2020 - 2024, overseeing the delivery of full Elizabeth line services, the joint venture on South Western Railway and the start-up of both infrastructure and property development businesses, designed to bring new solutions to the UK Industry. Steve had previously led the award-winning train company MTR Elizabeth line (MTREL) as Managing Director, since its inception in 2015, achieving first place sector status for measurements as wide ranging as on time running, safety standards, workplace diversity and customer service. Steve has been credited as the driving force behind MTREL’s escalating success story.

From the start of his career over 30 years ago as a British Rail Graduate trainee and following leadership roles with Chiltern Railways, Irish Rail, Deutsche Bahn and London Overground, Steves approach has been the catalyst for dynamic growth in the Industry through constant innovation and an unwavering focus on safety, reliability and customer service.

Niamh O’Regan was re-appointed to the Board of CIÉ in April 2022. Niamh is a member of the CIÉ Board Finance and Investment Committee and of the CIÉ Board Remuneration Committee.

Niamh is a Fellow Chartered Accountant of Chartered Accountants Ireland, having trained with PWC in Dublin, London and Brussels.

Niamh’s professional experience includes Head of Business Performance in Barclays Bank PLC, London and Head of Business Management in Barclays Bank Ireland PLC.

Niamh has 11 years of experience as INED. She is a full-time INED and her other current directorships include Riverstone Insurance Ireland where she is Chair of the Board as well as CACI (Credit Agricole Group) BBPM Life (Banco BBPM Group), Darnell (BNP Paribas Group), XL Re Europe SE (AXA Group) and Drivalia (Credit Agricole Group).

Niamh has also been appointed by the Irish Government to the Advisory Committee against Economic Crime and Corruption.

Niamh holds recent credentials in Risk Management, Compliance, Insurance Law and as Certified Bank Director.

Liam O’Rourke was re-appointed to the Board of CIÉ in September 2024. Liam is the Chair of the CIÉ Board Audit and Risk Committee and a member of the CIÉ Sustainability Committee and past member of the CIÉ Pensions committee. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland since 1988. He has held senior executive positions with US multinational manufacturing companies for over 30 years and was the Finance Director of the Irish subsidiary of Champion Spark Plug Company. He has extensive experience in Finance, Treasury, Pensions, HR and ICT. He has held senior Finance and Governance roles within the Property Development sector. Currently providing senior level private consultancy in Finance and Governance requirements.

Gary Owens was appointed to the Board of CIÉ and as Chair of Bus Átha Cliath in May 2022.

 He has wide experience in financial services at Board and senior Executive level and was Chief Executive Officer of both Hibernian Insurance and IFG Ireland. He also served as an Independent Director for both AIG Ireland and AIG International where he was a member of the Audit Committee and Chair of their Investment Committee. Gary is a Director in Leaseplan Insurances where he has chaired both the Audit and Risk Committees and is currently Chair of Diona DAC and ICare Capital Partners.

He has fulfilled a number of roles in sport serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer for both the Football Association of Ireland and Athletics Ireland and also served as the Chief Executive Officer for Down Syndrome Ireland.

Gary is a Chartered Insurer and a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Fiona Sweeney was appointed to the Board of CIÉ in April 2019 and reappointed in April 2022.

She is the Chairperson of the CIÉ Board Finance and Investment Committee. Fiona is an investment professional with over 30 years’ experience in the asset management industry. She has held executive and board roles in leading Irish investment firms over the past 20 years. She is currently the CEO of Evelyn Partners Investment Management (Europe). In these roles she has been responsible for the development, communication and implementation of effective business strategies. She has an in depth knowledge of pensions and investment markets and has significant experience in corporate governance and compliance. Fiona holds Undergraduate and Masters Degrees in Economics from University College Dublin and the Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors.

Tommy Wynne was reappointed to the Board of CIÉ in December 2021 under the Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Acts, 1977 to 2001. He joined Iarnród Éireann as a depot man in 1991 and became a train driver in 1994.

Tommy holds a Higher Diploma in International Railway Management from Glasgow Caledonia University. He recently qualified as a Mediator and is registered with Mediators Institute of Ireland (MII).

He was President of the SIPTU TEAC Division for 12 years and is currently Chair of SIPTU Transport Sector. He has recently been elected to SIPTU National Executive Council (NEC).