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The Minister for Children, Disabilities, Equality & Integration, Roderic O’Gorman TD, has appointed a new Chairperson of the Board of the Adoption Authority of Ireland for the next five-year term commencing 2 November:

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/7ee0d-minister-ogorman-appoints-new-chair-deputy-chair-and-board-member-to-the-adoption-authority-of-ireland/

The Authority welcomes Ms Orlaith Traynor as Chairperson, Mr Sean O’Brien as Deputy Chair and Professor Sheila Greene as a new ordinary Board member.

Ms Orlaith Traynor – Chairperson

Orlaith Traynor is a practicing solicitor with a particular expertise in family law. Orlaith has vast experience in the area of adoption, having previously served as Deputy Chairperson on An Bord Uchtála and the Adoption Authority of Ireland for many years. She has been in private practice as a Solicitor for 45 years and has a Master’s degree in Advanced Legal Practice from the Law Society of Ireland in conjunction with the University of Northumbria; the subject for her thesis was the Birth Father’s Rights in the context of adoption. Orlaith has an advanced Diploma in Quasi-Judicial Decision Making from King’s Inns. She has presented several papers on adoption at conferences organised by the Adoption Authority and has an article on adoption published in a peer-reviewed journal, the Irish Journal of Family Law. In her capacity as Deputy Chairperson of the Authority, along with the Chair and CEO, Orlaith visited Vietnam to meet the Minister for Children there and took the opportunity to visit a children’s orphanage.

Mr Sean O’Brien – Deputy Chairperson

Sean O’Brien graduated in law from University College Cork in 1983 and has been in practice as a Solicitor for over 30 years. Sean’s practice is primarily in civil litigation in which he has extensive experience. Sean has a particular interest in family law and has also, for many years, advised families of children with disabilities on the creation of Wills and Trusts. In addition, he has, since 2008, been an accredited Mediator with CEDR. Sean has, over the years, been a member of a number of publicly funded Boards, most recently serving as Chair of Youth Theatre Ireland. Sean’s experience of adoption stems from the fact that he is an adoptive father.

Professor Sheila Greene – new Board member

Sheila Greene is a Fellow Emeritus at Trinity College Dublin and former Professor of Childhood Research. She is a Pro-Chancellor of the University of Dublin. She is a qualified clinical psychologist but most of her teaching and research has been in developmental psychology. She was the Co-Director of the national longitudinal study of children in Ireland, Growing Up in Ireland from 2006-11. Her publications include books, journal articles and commissioned reports. Her most recent book is Children as agents in their worlds (Greene & Nixon, Routledge, 2020). She was the Principal Investigator on A study of intercountry adoption outcomes in Ireland, commissioned by the Adoption Board and published in 2007.

The Board 2020-2025

Ms Orlaith Traynor – Chairperson

Mr Sean O’Brien – Vice Chair

Professor Sheila Greene – Board member

Mr Paul Harrison – Board member (returning)

Dr Helen Buckley – Board member (returning

Judge Patrick McMahon – Board member (returning)

Dr Margo Anglim – Board member (returning)

Profiles of all the Board members can be found at https://aai.gov.ie/en/who-we-are/membership-of-the-adoption-authority.html

The new Board will convene for their inaugural meeting on Tuesday 10 November.

The Authority thanks all returning Board members for taking on these roles and continuing to bring their skills and expertise to the Board, and is grateful to Dr Geoffrey Shannon, Chairperson, and Ms Anne O’Flaherty, Board member, whose terms have expired, for their dedication over the past several years.