Irish Lights is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members to its Board. The appointments bring a broad range of expertise across governance, public administration, maritime industries, finance, audit, renewable energy and regulatory affairs, further strengthening the organisation as it continues to deliver its mission of providing essential navigation and maritime services in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The new Board members are Aideen McGinley OBE, Dave Ronayne, Gary Connolly, Louise O'Byrne and Vincent Teo.

Pictured (Right to Left): Louise O'Byrne, Yvonne Shields O’Connor(CEO) , Adam Grennan(Chairperson) , Dave Ronayne, Aideen McGinley, Vincent Teo, (not pictured Gary Connolly).

Welcoming the appointments, Chairperson Adam Grennan said:

"I am delighted to welcome Aideen, Dave, Gary, Louise and Vincent to the Board of Irish Lights. Collectively they bring a wealth of experience and expertise across a wide range of sectors that are highly relevant to the work of Irish Lights. Their leadership, governance and professional experience will strengthen the Board and support Irish Lights as it continues to deliver on its mission of safe navigation at sea."

Aideen McGinley OBE

Aideen is an experienced public sector leader, board chair, trustee, and transformation specialist with experience across local and central government spanning economic regeneration, education, culture, and community development. She was the first female Chief Executive in Northern Ireland local government and the first female Permanent Secretary in the Northern Ireland Civil Service where she led the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (1999-2006) and the Department for Employment and Learning (2006-2009).

Aideen has extensive experience leading large-scale organisations establishing new institutions, securing major investment programmes, and working with Ministers, Boards, Regulators, Communities, and International Stakeholders. She was involved in the establishment of three cross-border bodies, including Waterways Ireland. Her governance experience includes serving as BBC Trustee for Northern Ireland, Trustee of the National Trust, and the Carnegie UK Trust.

She is a Non-Executive Director of the Western Health and Social Care Trust and is active in the community and voluntary sector in a range of leadership and volunteer roles. She was awarded the OBE in 2000. With a degree in Environmental Science, she has a strong personal commitment to environmental legacy.

Dave Ronayne

Dave is a chartered accountant with extensive experience in the shipping industry. He is Group Chief Executive of Irish Mainport Holdings Limited which is a ship owning company with interests in stevedoring, ship agency, freight forwarding, and warehousing.

Dave has been involved in expanding the business internationally through acquisitions and joint ventures. His Board experience includes a number of joint venture companies on behalf of Mainport Holdings both in Ireland and abroad, the Irish Chamber of Shipping, IBEC Cork Regional Council, Cork Harbour Commissioners and Cork Simon.

Dave is very involved in his local community.

Gary Connolly

Gary is a Chartered Engineer with extensive experience in renewable energy development. He is currently the Head of Offshore Wind Development within ESB's Generation and Trading business, responsible for the development and delivery of a portfolio of offshore wind projects across Great Britain.

Prior to focusing on offshore wind in 2018, Gary led the development of onshore wind projects across Ireland and the UK on behalf of ESB. He has extensive experience in project development, investment governance, stakeholder engagement, and strategic growth initiatives within the renewable energy sector. He is a founding member of Northern Ireland Renewables Industry Group (NIRIG) and has sat on a number of Boards as part of his role with ESB.

Gary is a keen coastal cruising sailor and spends most of his time offshore along the north coast of Ireland and the west coast of Scotland.

Louise O'Byrne

Louise is a qualified solicitor and Partner at Arthur Cox LLP where she is Head of the Commercial Department with a particular focus on employment law. She has extensive experience advising State Bodies and Semi State organisations on governance, accountability, and regulatory matters.

Louise has advised on board and executive governance, protected disclosures, industrial relations, and compliance with public law obligations. Her advisory work includes advising on compliance with the Code of Governance for State Bodies. Louise also serves on the Board of Barretstown and is a member of the Governance Committee at the Rotunda Hospital.

Louise is originally from Cork and has a lifelong connection to the sea.

Vincent Teo

Vincent Teo is a Partner at Crowleys DFK, where he leads the firm's Public Sector and Government Services Department. He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor with extensive experience providing internal audit, public sector accounting, statutory audit and risk advisory services. His work spans Central Government Departments, State and Semi-State Agencies, Regulators, Ombudsman offices, and other publicly funded bodies.

Vincent currently serves on the Audit Committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, having been appointed in 2025. He has served as a Council member of Gaisce since 2021, where he also serves on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. Vincent was previously Chairperson of the Audit Committee of Sunbeam House Services and an external member of the Audit Committee of BeLonG To Youth Services. He was also appointed to the Board of the Ireland Malaysia Business Association where he served as Chairperson from 2017 to 2019.

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