Membership of the Authority

Our Board

• 

  John McDaid

  Chairperson

  Biography

  John has spent most of his career working in legal arenas. Having graduated with a law degree from Trinity College Dublin (1983), John qualified as a solicitor (1988) before working in private practice in Dublin and in Australia. He joined the Legal Aid Board in 1993 working as a managing solicitor in its law centres in Longford and Navan where he was extensively involved in litigation and advocacy. He also worked in its Centre dedicated to representing international protection applicants. He moved to senior management roles in the organisation and was appointed Chief Executive in 2014, a position he held until 2023. As Chief Executive, John had executive responsibility for the delivery of the State’s civil legal aid and family mediation services through a nationwide network of both law and family mediation centres, and private providers. John has served as a board member of Oberstown Campus Detention Centre, and he currently serves on the board of Tusla. He is a part-time member of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal. He holds a Masters of Science in Business Practice from the Irish Management Institute / UCC (2017). He was appointed Chairperson of the Adoption Authority of Ireland in December 2025.

• 

  Vacant

  Deputy chairperson

  Biography
• 

  Professor Sheila Greene

  Board Member

  Biography

  Sheila Greene is a Fellow and Professor Emerita at Trinity College Dublin and a former Pro-Chancellor of the University of Dublin. After graduating from TCD with a degree in Psychology and Philosophy, she trained as a clinical psychologist at the Maudsley Hospital, London and then worked at the Children’s Hospital in Boston before returning to Trinity to take up a lectureship in psychology. She helped to establish and direct postgraduate courses in clinical and counselling psychology and co-founded the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies and the Children’s Research Centre. In 1992 and in 1994 she was elected as the Dean of Arts (Humanities) and from 2001-4 held the office of Senior Lecturer (Chief Academic Officer) of the College. She was the Co-Director of the national longitudinal study of children in Ireland, Growing Up in Ireland, from 2006-11. Her publications include The psychological development of girls and women (Routledge, 2003/2015), Researching children's experience (Greene & Hogan, Sage, 2005), Key thinkers in Childhood Studies (Smith & Greene, Policy Press, 2014), Children as agents in their worlds (Greene & Nixon, Routledge, 2020), journal articles and commissioned reports. She was the Principal Investigator on ‘A study of intercountry adoption outcomes in Ireland’, commissioned by the Adoption Board and published in 2007.

• 

  Colin Fallon

  Board Member

  Biography

  Colin is an experienced social work professional with over 25 years of practice across medical, educational and occupational settings. He spent 15 years working in probation, specialising in social work and mediation. Colin held senior roles as a Social Work Manager before retiring in November 2025 and brings a wealth of expertise in complex case management, conflict resolution and multidisciplinary collaboration.

• 

  Dr Ciara O'Rafferty

  Board Member

  Biography

  Dr. Ciara O’Rafferty was recently appointed to the board of the Adoption Authority of Ireland. She graduated with an honours degree in Medicine from Trinity College Dublin. She was awarded the Professor’s prize for Psychiatry. She completed Basic Specialist Training in Medicine with membership awarded by the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland and completed Higher Specialist Training in haematology. She received several awards from the Haematology Association of Ireland for research studies during her higher specialist training. She was subsequently awarded the Richard Steeven’s Scholarship to fund a clinical fellowship in Birmingham Children’s Hospital in Paediatric Haematology and Transplantation. She has worked in Ireland as a Consultant Haematologist in both paediatric and adult practice. She was a key advocate for the funding of a single national paediatric bone marrow transplant service in Ireland. Her work in Tallaght Hospital as clinical lead for VTE prevention was awarded a VTE exemplar award by Thrombosis Ireland for best quality improvement project. She has served on the board of management of a large primary school and has many years experience of governance, clinical leadership and change management. Labhair Gaeilge lei más maith leat.

• 

  Geraldine Keehan

  Board Member

  Biography

  As a solicitor, Geraldine practiced in both England and Wales and Ireland.  In both jurisdictions, she specialised in Family law specifically in divorce, co-habitation, child custody disputes, child abduction and domestic and inter country adoptions. Geraldine also represented Guardians ad Litem in proceedings regarding children in care, including Special Care. Geraldine has advised Local Authorities in England and Wales on matters pertaining to international law including Brussels 11 bis and advised on the implications of Brexit on family law. Geraldine has been instructed by a number of major Charities in Ireland whose remit was to promote children’s rights and advised them on the Constitutional rights of children following the implementation of Article 42A of the Constitution. She has lectured in the Law Society of Ireland on Family and Child law and was also a Member of the Law Society Family Law Committee who submitted papers to a Government Department on proposed family law legislation. Geraldine has co-authored a number of publications on family and child law focusing on the representation of children in private family law proceedings emphasising the importance of listening to children. She is a Trustee and Council Member of a Charity which aims to provide financial assistance to those requiring palliative care and to nurses undertaking educational courses on how to care for children requiring palliative care.

• 

  Valerie O'Brien

  Board Member

  Biography

  Valerie O’Brien is dual qualified and is both a social worker and a psychotherapist. She is currently an Associate Professor in UCD in the School of Medicine where she is Programme Director of the Systemic Psychotherapy / Family Therapy programme since 2018. As part of her academic role, Valerie is a researcher, lecturer, clinician and clinical supervisor and has led a number of action-based demonstration projects in respect of adoption, foster and relative care and family group conferencing and adoption. She has experience of participating on Local, National and European boards in respect of child and family welfare, social work and psychotherapy. In addition to her membership on the AAI Board, she is currently Chairperson of Social Workers in Foster Care Group – in the Irish Association of Social Worker and is a board member of the European Family Therapy Association - EFTA . Through these experiences, she brings an acute awareness of the importance of governance, integrity, the need for sound judgement, and the importance of being respectful, reflective, and sensitive in her work.