How we're governed

Oxfam Ireland is a registered charity in Ireland (ROI company number 284292, Charity number CHY 5988) and Northern Ireland (NI company number 33800, Charity number CHY XN89651) with headquarters in Dublin and Belfast. We are registered with the Charities Regulatory Authority in Ireland (Registered Charity Number 20009946) and with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (Registered Charity Number NIC100848). Here are our articles of association for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

As a not-for-profit, charitable status company, Oxfam Ireland is governed by a maximum of 9 unpaid trustees, known as Council or Board members. Since 2012, members are appointed for a maximum of two three-year terms through open competition. Board members appointed as Chair can serve for a maximum of two three-year terms in that role. These trustees participate in special committees set up by management to guide decisions on programme quality, finance and risk.

A Board committee on remuneration and performance appoints the Chief Executive and sets pay rates for the Chief Executive and senior staff. For every paid staff member, we have the support of approximately ten volunteers. We could not carry out our work without this key support from people countrywide and we value it greatly.

ROI Memo & Articles

NI Memo & Articles

Current board members are:

Dr. Susan Murphy (Chair) - Appointed as Chair 22/02/2018

Dr. Susan Murphy is the Assistant Professor in international development practice with the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, and programme coordinator for the joint TCD UCD Masters in Development Practice. Susan received a Ph.D. in 2012 from the School of Politics and International Relations, UCD, on the subject of international development and normative political theory. She is currently leading baseline research projects on gender and education, and the gendered dimensions of climate change in East Africa. Susan sits on the steering committee of the Trinity International Development Initiative, is visiting lecturer to the School of Politics and International Relations UCD, Dar es Salaam University Centre for Education, and is visiting fellow with REPOA, Policy Research for Development, Tanzania.

Andrew McCracken - Appointed 20/04/2018

Andrew McCracken is CEO of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland and Chair of CO3, the charity for third sector leaders in Northern Ireland. Andrew has strayed far from his original degree in Physics and has worked on major organisational development projects, led highly successful national fundraising campaigns, facilitated significant change within local and international charities, and provided advice and support for charity leaders on people and fundraising issues. Amongst other roles, he has 13 years experience of working within Tearfund, an international development NGO, latterly as their Global Fundraising Director. Andrew and his partner Harriet live in Belfast and have a large and noisy family of fostered, adopted and birth children.

Prof. Mary Murphy - Appointed 20/04/2018

Prof Mary Murphy has lectured in Irish Politics and Society in Maynooth University’s Department of Sociology since 2007. Her research interests include eco social policy, social security policy, power and civil society, and gender. Her latest book, Policy Analysis in Ireland, co-edited with John Hogan was published March 2021. A contributor to national policy debate, she has been a member of various national policy groups including the National Economic and Social Council, the National Advisory Group on Taxation and Social Welfare (2011-2014) the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (2013-2017), and in 2019 was appointed by President M.D.Higgins to the Council of State.

Deirdre Grant - Appointed 20/04/2018

Deirdre Grant is the managing director of communications consultancy firm Red Flag. She provides strategic advice to her clients’ senior management teams, bringing her twenty years’ experience in communications and public affairs to assist them in winning in business and media.

Prior to joining Red Flag, Deirdre worked as a special advisor to two Cabinet Ministers, as a director of public affairs, a head of communications for international NGOs and as a national broadcast journalist. She has extensive contacts in politics, media and the corporate world. Her experience in government means she is acutely aware of how policy and legislation is formed and influenced. Deirdre has worked in international development in South Africa and Haiti, including being part of an emergency response team in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake there. She also has a masters in HIV/AIDS from the University of Cape Town.

Alf Smiddy - Appointed 28/06/2019

Alf is a chartered accountant by profession, having worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Cork and Dublin, and also in the Irish and international hospitality and beverage sector for over 25 years. He is a director of the Dalata Hotel Group plc, the ESB and of Social Innovation Fund Ireland Ltd. He is also director of a number of businesses across a range of sectors including financial services, marketing and technology, tourism and hospitality, agriculture and food, health and safety, and retail. He also runs his own company and works with leadership teams and boards in the private and public sectors in Ireland on organisational strategy, marketing and business development, financial management and human resource leadership.

Catherine Gaynor - Appointed 19/06/2020

Catherine (Cathy) Gaynor has worked as a planner, evaluator, researcher, trainer and technical director in development programmes spanning many countries for 40 years. This has included nine years across three full-time assignments in Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Malawi and multiple short and long term assignments for a range of multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental organisations. She has a BSc from NUIG and a Masters in Social Policy and Planning from London School of Economics. Particular areas of expertise include gender equality and results based management. Most recently, she led on the design and was Technical Director for a five year innovative programme in Nigeria working to change harmful norms related to gender based violence and opposition to women’s leadership and decision making. The primary target group was young women and men but also other key influencers. The programme has generated cutting edge learning related to changing gender norms and the measurement of change. Cathy has recently re-located to her roots in Clare and currently engages both locally and globally on development issues.

Dónal Rooney - Appointed 27/09/2021

Dónal is a chartered accountant, accomplished business leader and experienced Group Chief Financial Officer with over 20-years’ experience, including significant board and sub-committee membership. He has operated successfully at senior executive level across a range of sectors and geographies in a number of complex roles with publicly listed, state-owned and private equity-owned firms: amongst others, National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) and Amaris Hospitality, a Lone Star portfolio company. Dónal also has over 12-years’ professional services experience working with KPMG and Arthur Andersen.

Joyce Bourne - Appointed 27/09/2021

Joyce Bourne has over 30 years working in the public service of Barbados, before relocating to Ireland with her family in 2020. She has spent her career developing her expertise as an advocate for development issues in the international arena, having served in senior diplomatic roles accredited to Venezuela; the United States of America; the Organisation of American States and the United Nations, New York.

She has extensive experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. She has represented Barbados at numerous bilateral, regional and international meetings, facilitated numerous regional and international negotiations and provided foreign policy advice on social, political, economic and environmental issues. In addition, she has a sound background in administration, management and building collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

She holds post-graduate qualifications in international relations as well as a master’s degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

Yvonne Byrne - Appointed 25/06/2021

Yvonne Byrne is a Partner in Deloitte Digital in Dublin, Ireland. Yvonne works with clients across industry on their customer and digital transformation agenda, specialising in Customer experience analysis and design, channel strategy and management, sales and service transformation and new proposition development. She has over 20 years within the UK Financial Services and consulting industry, having previously worked with the Royal Bank of Scotland, Tesco Bank and KPMG UK. Yvonne has extensive experience in all aspects of Customer Experience, growth strategy, product management, customer and channel strategy and new proposition development.

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