Today is Giving Tuesday and this year, Charities across Ireland are celebrating the leadership, generosity, and impact of the 76,000 volunteer Trustees who guide our sector.
We are joining with others today to celebrate the role of our Board, who voluntarily give their time to govern the activities of Epilepsy Ireland. We are privileged at Epilepsy Ireland to have a dedicated and hard-working board who are committed to achieving a society where no person’s life is limited by epilepsy.
We would like to thank our board for their support on this Giving Tuesday.
You can learn more about the people behind our board below while you can also find more information on the role of our Board and their activities within our latest annual report by visiting the 'Publications' page on our website.
Should you need any information or support about epilepsy, please do not hesitate to contact your local Community Resource Officer. You can find their details by visiting the ‘Our Local Service’ page on our website.
Michael McLoughlin (Chairperson)
Michael McLoughlin has served as CEO of Amárach Research for 25 years. He holds an MBA and MA from University College Dublin, is a qualified Chartered Director, and is currently completing a Level 9 qualification in Financial Planning.
He previously served on Epilepsy Ireland’s Finance & Audit Sub-Committee (2011-2018) and on the Board from 2013-2019. Michael was re-elected to the Board in 2025 and appointed Chair in November.
Over the past 25 years, he has also served on several voluntary and charity boards. He is currently Chair of the Irish Youth Foundation and the Social Finance Foundation, and is Vice-Chair of the Heritage Credit Union.
Aaron Chalke (Secretary)
Aaron is the founder and Managing Director of Foe, a film production and advertising creative studio. He has worked in the marketing and advertising sector since 2010, developing a number of award-winning campaigns with a range of international and domestic brands. Alongside the advertising services, Aaron also produces films. He is a graduate of Dublin City University and is currently studying a postgraduate diploma in Advanced Producing for Film and TV in TUD with Screen Ireland.
Paul Kehoe (Treasurer)
Paul joined the Epilepsy Ireland Finance & Audit sub-committee in 2017 and was elected to the Board in 2018. He currently serves as Treasurer. He is an experienced accounting and finance professional who has worked for over 40 years in the Financial Services sector including many years at AIB Global Treasury.
Paul Fahey
Paul Fahey is a Chartered Director and member of the Institute of Directors Ireland. Paul is a Director of Glenough Consulting Limited which provides consultancy services to the health sector. Paul is a pharmacist previously owned and operated a pharmacy business for over 25 years. He served as the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland from 2011-2013. Paul is actively involved in the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and is a member of its Technology Forum and ONE FIP Data & Intelligence Commission
Prof Mary King
Prof. King is a recently retired Consultant Paediatric Neurologist from Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Temple St., Rotunda Hospital and Beaumont Hospital. She is a Professor in Paediatrics at University College Dublin, School of Medicine & Medical Science and has many publications in the field of Paediatric Neurology including “A Handbook of Neurological Investigations in Children”. Professor King has collaborated in several Genomic projects which have led to definite diagnoses, genetic counselling and personalised treatments for many Irish families.
Nicola Saarsteiner
Nicola joined the Board of Directors in 2023. She was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2003 and subsequently volunteered for Epilepsy Ireland as a media volunteer, speaking at a number of conferences and events. She became a barrister in 2012 and practices in a number of areas in civil litigation, including personal injury, professional negligence and employment law.
Mark Curran
Mark joined the Board of Directors in 2023. He is a practising barrister and accredited mediator engaged in civil litigation with a particular focus on financial services & pensions law, regulatory law, judicial review, personal injuries law and employment law. Mark is a member of the Bar of Ireland and the New York State Bar and holds degrees from University College Dublin and the University of Cambridge.
Liam Woulfe
Liam has an undergraduate degree in Production Management from the University of Limerick. He has 20 years’ experience working with Fortune 500 Medtech organisations in roles of increasing responsibility. In that period, he as completed an MSc in Project and Programme Management in UL and an Executive MBA from the UCD Smurfit Business School. He is currently a Senior Strategic Director in Medtronic's Global Operations and Supply Chain organisation. He is currently a member of the EI Finance & Audit sub-committee. He was diagnosed with Epilepsy at the age of 16 and is passionate about supporting the strategic aims of Epilepsy Ireland.
Nicola Nagle
Nicola joined the Board of Directors in 2023. She has a BSc in Accounting from UCC and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. She is a Director in KPMG’s technical accounting department with over 13 years’ experience working with listed companies, private Irish family-owned business as was all not-for-profit organisations. She brings invaluable experience to the charity in financial reporting, legal and corporate governance requirements.
Caoimhe Neary
Caoimhe joined the Board of Directors in 2025 having previously served on the Finance & Audit sub-committee since 2024. Working as a Tax Director in EY, she has over 13 years’ experience advising corporates in employment tax with a particular focus on tax technology and transformation and Revenue Audit remediation programmes. Caoimhe is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland and the Irish Tax Institute, and holds degrees from University College Dublin and Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
John Gildea
John joined the Board of Directors in 2025 having previously been involved in a local community advocacy group for autism. John was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1998 and is an experienced communications professional. He is currently Head of Marketing & Communications for John Paul Construction.