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.

Sean graduated in law from University College Cork in1983 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.

Mr. O'Brien 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. 

Patrick is a retired District Court Judge, who studied in Dublin, Leyden and Amsterdam. Before being appointed as a Judge he served as a practicing solicitor for over 30 years. He was a previous member of An Bord Uchtála and was Chairperson of an adoption society.

In 2014 he was appointed as the Garda Confidential Recipient. Patrick is a serving member of the Board of My Legacy. He was an arbitrator for many years, and was also Chairman of Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company.

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 psychologiest 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. Here 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. 

Paul is a registered social worker with over 35 years of experience in children’s services. He has held a number of practitioner and management positions in the areas of child welfare and protection, alternative care, mental health, homelessness, addiction and adoption.

Mr Harrison is recently retired from the Child and Family Agency, where he served on the national management team as Director of Policy and Strategy, and held overall responsibility for the Agency’s National Adoption Service.

Helen is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin, where she lectures in child protection practice and policy to undergraduate and postgraduate students. She has led a number of commissioned research projects on child protection, from which she has published papers and peer reviewed articles. Most recently, she co-authored a chapter entitled 'Child Welfare and Protection in Ireland: Déjà Vu all over again?' in Social Work in Ireland, published by Palgrave in 2015. She is the chair of the National Review Panel that investigates the deaths of children who are known to child protection services.

Margo is a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist. She was Director of St. Clare’s Child Sexual Abuse Assessment and Therapy Service in Temple Street Children’s University Hospital for 10 years and also the Clinical Director of the Liaison Mental Health Service in Temple Street for many years. She has a special interest in parent/child attachment issues.