Who we are

Our board

The members of the non-executive board of the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

The non-executive board of the RSA is appointed by the Minister of Transport as prescribed by the Road Safety Authority Act 2006. The board also complies with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies 2016.

The board includes a chairperson and eight ordinary members.

Message from our Chairperson

Welcome to the Board page of the Road Safety Authority.

In my role as Chairperson of the RSA, I work collaboratively with members of the RSA Board towards the goal of reducing Irish road deaths and serious injuries. Together we are tasked with the important mission of making Ireland’s roads as safe as possible for all road users and bring a wide range of skills and external experience to the RSA.

We are responsible for the governance and strategic direction of the organisation, and together with key stakeholders our goal is making the entire road network safer. The board also leads education campaigns to highlight to road users that it is only through all members of society working together and sharing the road that we will collectively make a positive impact.

As Chairperson of the RSA, I am proud of the work the RSA has achieved in making Ireland the fifth safest country in the EU. However, we must remind ourselves that we have a long way to go in making Ireland’s roads as safe as the best performing countries in Europe. We look forward to working with the wider RSA team, our stakeholders and the public in achieving this goal.

- Liz O'Donnell

RSA board members 2024

The following is an outline of the membership of the Board, our governance and administrative platform.

Liz O'Donnell - Chairperson

Ms. O’Donnell currently provides consultancy, lecturing and advisory services for corporate, educational and various other organisations in the field of government relations and public affairs and is an opinion columnist in the Irish Independent newspaper.
She is also a former politician having been first elected to the Dáil in 1992 where she served as TD for Dublin South from 1992 to 2007. She served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1997 -2002.

Derek Cawley

Dr. Derek Cawley MMedSc MCh FRCS Orth completed his training as a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon in 2016, progressing from there to pursue specialist spinal surgery training at the Institute de la Colonne Vertebrale, Bordeaux, France 2016-2017 and Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, London, UK during 2017-2018. He now operates as a spine surgeon at the Mater Private Hospital, Dublin.

Having previously studied medicine at NUI Galway, Derek completed a Masters Degree in Medical Sciences and a Masters Degree in Surgery. As a result of his extensive experience in musculoskeletal trauma, he is the editor and creator of the popular patient website www.myorthoclinic.com.

Derek also works in close collaboration with the Department of Physiotherapy at University College Dublin and he is a Programme Director for the Spinal Studies module on the UCD Masters Degree in Physiotherapy.

Derek is the chairperson of the PatientLine working group with the European Spine Society and has published widely in international surgical journals and books. Derek is also a consultant board member with the Irish Doctors for the Environment.

John Cronin

Dr John Cronin is an Emergency Medicine consultant at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin. He trained on the EM Higher Specialist Training scheme in Ireland, and at the Royal Melbourne Hospital - a major trauma centre in Victoria, Australia.

He has a special interest in trauma and was the project lead for our institution’s Trauma Unit bid.
He is involved in a number of national and international trauma research projects, including in the area of cycling trauma.

He is a past-President of the Irish Emergency Medicine Trainees Association, founding member of the Forum Trainee Subcommittee of the Irish Postgraduate Medical Training Bodies, and is a current member of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine Executive.

Sarah Johnson

Sarah is a lawyer by background, with particular expertise in public contracts and procurement. She for many years headed the EU and Regulatory Law department of a leading Dublin firm of solicitors where she specialised in advising public bodies in a variety of sectors on the procurement of infrastructure and services. This included advising on procurement procedures, contract terms and subsequent contract management. She also advised clients more generally on administrative law, governance and regulatory issues.

After studying law in Trinity College Dublin, Sarah completed a Masters Degree in European Community Law in the College of Europe, Bruges and then trained as a solicitor. She holds a Diploma in Construction Law and Management from Trinity College Dublin, and a Diploma in Mediator Training from the Law Society of Ireland.

Ashling Cunningham

Ashling Cunningham is an experienced Chief Information Officer at Irish Life Group. She has extensive experience working across manufacturing, services, utilities, and financial service industries. Ashling has an IT and Finance background, and holds an MSc in Management from Trinity College.

Before joining Irish Life Ashling held several senior leadership and consulting positions in international companies. A regular speaker at seminars, conference, and industry events on the transformational role of digital and technology, data and security, innovation, and women in business, she is a frequent contributor to trade publications.

Dónall Curtin

Experienced accountant, board director and business leader with background in Finance, Corporate Governance, Audit and Risk Management and who is a highly skilled with extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. Board directorships include Green Effects Investments plc, Arts Council, Office of Government Procurement, Irish College Leuven, Early Childhood Ireland. Founded one of Ireland’s leading accountancy practice. Considerable experience of serving on Audit & Risk Committees, both in Private & Public sectors

A strong advocate of ensuring that best practice and good corporate governance exist within the boardroom and ensuring relevant structures within businesses to facilitate adoption of organizational values throughout.

Providing strategic advisory services to many organisations, he brings a unique combination of business/accountancy knowledge and a deep knowledge of the professional membership sector to the provision of solutions for many organisations.

Dave Montgomery

Dave is a professional director and provides Governance, Risk & Compliance consulting services. Dave was previously employed as Chief Risk Officer of a large, tech-led investment firm and is a former partner and Head of Risk & Regulatory division in a consulting practice providing services to regulated entities.

He is a former regulator within the Central Bank of Ireland’s Risk and Insurance Supervision divisions where he was involved in developing a risk-based approach to supervision and in front-line supervision.

He is a qualified accountant, Certified Data Protection Officer and Certified Internal Auditor.

Board governance

The following policies provide a governance framework for the management and operation of the board:

Board meetings

The meeting schedule for the board and the Audit and Risk Committee in 2024 is:

Meeting Schedule 2024

Under Section 16 (1) of the Road Safety Authority Act 2006:
“The Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.”