Board

Dr Knut Moe is a GP Partner working across two family-run practices in South Dublin. Knut studied medicine in RCSI, interning in Beaumont Hospital and then completed GP training through RCSI Dublin North East GP Scheme in 2015. 

Before studying medicine, Knut studied Business & Politics in TCD and worked in the investment banking sector in London. He completed an Executive MBA in UCD Smurfit Business School in 2019 and has undertaken courses in Value-Based Healthcare from Harvard Business School and in Medical Law from the Honourable Society of King’s Inns.

Knut was Director of the Irish College of GPs’ Network of Establishing GPs Programme from 2021 to 2024, representing and advocating for establishing GPs to the College. He has a particular interest in promoting career planning and demystifying practice management among trainees and establishing GPs. He has presented at GP Trainer and Trainee conferences and produced blended learning training material on these topics.
 
Knut contributed to the College’s Shaping the Future of General Practice work published in 2022 and represented the College on the Department of Health’s Taskforce on the NCHD Workforce in 2024 . He has been an EDOC out-of-hours steering committee member and an IMO GP Sub-Committee Member until 2026. 

Knut is involved in undergraduate medical training in UCD and is an Associate Clinical Professor in UCD School of Medicine. He is a GP trainer on the RCSI Dublin North East GP Training Scheme and was appointed to the Board of the Irish College of GPs in 2024. 

Dr Velma Harkins has dedicated her career to rural general practice, diabetes care, and GP training. A GP in Banagher since the early 1990s, she co-founded the Midlands Diabetes Structured Care Programme and authored the first national guidelines for integrated diabetes care. She served as National GP Lead for Diabetes and contributed to the development of the Chronic Disease Management programme.

Dr Harkins has played a key role in national health policy through her work with the BreastCheck Steering Group and the National Screening Advisory Committee. A committed educator, she founded and chaired the National Association of Trainers in General Practice and led the negotiation of the GP Training Contract. She has also contributed to research and quality improvement initiatives within the ICGP, including the development of General Practice Updates.

Most recently, she helped establish the International Medical Graduate Programme for Rural Practice, supporting recruitment and strengthening general practice in Ireland

Dr Nuala O Connor is a partner at Elmwood Medical Practice in Cork for the past 33 years. 
Elmwood is a large multidisciplinary team with practice nurses, physio, psychologist ,practice manager and administrative team working alongside 9 GPs.

She has a varied general practice population covering all ages but has special interest in Primary Care Dermatology and Women’s Health.

Previous roles and posts

• Irish College of GPs Clinical Lead for the Covid 19 pandemic (2020 – 2023)
• College member of the Government High Level Taskforce on COVID-19 Vaccination in Ireland (2021 – 2022)
• College Lead for Antimicrobial Drug Resistance and Infection control (2012 – 2023), working with other health care professionals to develop and implement Irelands National One Health Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance #iNAP
• College member national task force which set up the HPSC Health Protection Surveillance Centre in 1998 and served on its scientific committee for several years  
• College examiner and member of examinations board 1994-2000

Prof Walter Cullen is Professor of Urban General Practice and University College Dublin Head of Academic General Practice. He was previously Professor of General Practice at University College Limerick and currently works clinically at Summerhill Family Practice in Dublin’s North Inner City. 

A UCD graduate, Prof Cullen completed the Eastern Regional Specialist GP Training Programme in 1998. He worked as a GP in Dublin’s South Inner City and lecturer at UCD School of Medicine, completing MD degree on Hepatitis C in General Practice. In 2009, he was appointed UL Professor of General Practice. The establishment of GP Teaching Networks, enabling students to spend more time learning in general practice, has been a priority. Prof Cullen has collaborated with the Irish College of GPs in supporting the IMG Rural Doctors Programme. He leads a research team, working on themes such as mental health, healthcare integration, cardiovascular disease and primary care nursing practice.  He has been a member of the Irish College of GPs Executive (Chair of Research) and Research Ethics Committees. 

Dr. Rukshan Goonewardena is a General Practitioner based in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan. He has a strong interest in both undergraduate and postgraduate GP training. Dr. Goonewardena serves as a GP Trainer with the Dublin North East training scheme and is also a GP tutor with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).

Dr. Rukshan Goonewardena is a member of the IMO GP Committee and serves as Secretary of the Cavan Monaghan GP Faculty. He is also the GP Lead for Cavan. In addition, Dr. Goonewardena has held various roles within the Irish College of GPs and has advocated for stronger connections between newly established GPs (NEGs) as they establish their careers in general practice.

Prof Liam Glynn is the Professor of General Practice at the School of Medicine and a member of the Health Research Institute at the University of Limerick. Professor Glynn joined the College in 2003, is a member of the Clare Faculty and also a fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. 

Additional and previous roles and posts

• ICGP Sláintecare Liaison Committee
• Co-founder of COVIDWATCHIRL 
• IPCRN Committee
• Forum Editorial Board
• Association of University Department of General Practice in Ireland (AUDGPI)
• Co-founder of the "No Doctor No Village" advocacy campaign
• Principal Investigator on EU and HRB funded research programmes
• Cochrane Fellow
• Assistant Director of Western General Practice Training Programme
• Communications and Publications committee member 

Professor Glynn' career ambition is to contribute to the development of general practice and primary care in Ireland and the transformation of the Irish healthcare system with high quality teaching and research of international standing while continuing an active clinical role as a rural GP. His primary research interests are in preventive medicine with a focus on physical activity, knee arthritis, chronic kidney disease and diabetes and on bringing technological solutions to healthcare through connected health and particularly mHealth solutions. 

Ms Siobhan O'Leary is a Non-Executive Member of the Board. Siobhan is a business transformation specialist with a background in finance and HR. She has over 10 years' experience in developing and refining strategy and in designing and implementing change programs in medium sized enterprises, with a particular focus on delivering enhanced profitability.

She has specific experience in financial management, operational efficiency and effectiveness, and organizational and culture change management. Experienced in risk identification and mitigation, Siobhan also has considerable Board experience as noted below:

• Fishamble Theatre Group 2016 - 2024: Board Member, Deputy Chairperson of Board, Chairperson of Finance and Remuneration Sub-committee
• Gonzaga College Secondary School, Ranelagh Dublin 2009 - 2018: Board of Management Member, Chairperson of the Finance Committee, Member of the Strategic Development Steering Group
• Scoil Bhríde Gaelscoil, Ranelagh Dublin 2003 - 2012: Chairperson of the Board of Management, Chairperson of the Finance Committee

Dr Pascal O’Dea is family doctor in County Carlow for the past  thirty five years. As part of a long established group practice in Bagenalstown he enjoys the collegiality of fellow GPs through the Carlow and Kilkenny Irish College of GPs faculties.

Pascal has wide experience of representing colleagues through the College, IMO, Caredoc out of hours CO-OP, St Lukes Hospital Kilkenny, College liaison committee and the South East GP training scheme. He also enjoying the benefit of close co-operation with his local community and patients he values the unique position and the privilege of working in general practice in Ireland. 

Ms Sinéad O’Loghlin is a dual-qualified barrister and solicitor with fifteen years’ professional experience as a commercial and healthcare lawyer. She is the Co-Founder of Karst, a specialist advisory firm, where she has advised regulated healthcare operators on governance, corporate structures, commercial strategy, crisis management, and engagements with State regulators such as HIQA, the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

Sinéad also has extensive board-level experience and served as a State board director for the Dublin Dental University Hospital from 2017 to November 2025. She was also Chairperson of the hospital’s Patient Safety and Quality Committee, where she led oversight of quality assurance and patient safety.

Mark is a GP principal at Rialto Medical, Dublin 8, and a current Irish College of GPs Council Member. 

As ICGP/HSE Primary Care Lead, Mark was centrally involved in developing the Chronic Disease Management Programme. He later led the College Working Group on Patient Safety and Transitional Care, which produced a college position statement and practical template tools for GPs. He has served on several College committees, including Quality and Safety ni Practice, Membership, Website Development, and NIAC, and was a board member of COPD Support Ireland. 

Mark holds a B.Comm and an MSc from the Smurfit School of Business, UCD. He has tutored and lectured at Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin and continues to help train GP interns and registrars at Rialto Medical. He also helped train Community Paramedic Masters students as a designated GP for the National Ambulance Service's programme, delivered in collaboration with University College Cork. He has completed the College's inaugural Leadership Academy and holds a Certificate in AI in Healthcare from MIT Sloan. 

Dr Eimear McCarthy is a native of Skibbereen. Eimear was a graduate of the UCD School of Medicine in 1996. She trained on the South East GP scheme and did her training year with the inimitable Dr Mark Walsh in New Ross.  She founded her own practice, with Dr Vivian Foley, in Carrigaline in 2004. We are now a 4-partner training practice with a total staff of 17.

Eimear works as a full time GP with special interests in Mental health, Women’s health, Palliative care and Continuing Medical Education.  She has been a CME tutor and continues to be a group leader for a very engaged CME group.  She has been involved in patient advocacy; she was a founder member of START (Southern Taskforce on Abortion and Reproductive Topics) and helped formulate the educational material for the Early Medical Abortion module. She still undertakes training in this area for the College. She has written ‘Top ten tips for non-providing GPs’ on the College website. Although she is not the training partner, she is the Contraceptive and LARC tutor for the practice. She has been a directly elected member of the College Council for the last 2 years.

Her main role is as the mother to 2 wonderful humans she is proud to call her children. In her spare time, she loves to walk, do Pilates and read. She is a member of a book club. To recharge her social battery, she spends time with friends either in nature or at the table, enjoying food, drinks and fun.

She has been aware of the College since her early teenage years and was in awe of Dr Michael Boland, who was an inspiration and a close family friend.

The main reasons she would like to become a board member of the College are 3-fold. She feels that as a full-time female GP, she offers an important perspective on how many of her cohort are struggling with work-life balance and may not have the time or capacity to advocate for important issues in this regard. She believes in the College structure and wants to find ways to contribute to the thriving community we have for the betterment of  GPs now and in the future. Finally, given her background, work and life experience, she believes she can contribute in a meaningful way and enhance the future of the College.

Dr Ken Harte was a single handed GP in Macroom, Co Cork for many years but recently joined by another doctor.

He graduated from University of Dublin, Trinity College in 1995, followed by the Cork GP training scheme. Having worked in Cork city for a few years, he moved to Macroom in 2008.

He was a CME tutor in Cork city from 2008 to 2018 and has served on the ICGP council and on the Educational Governance Committee. He has also been CME National Accreditor from 2024 until 2026. Founding member of the START group, he has been a strong advocate for women's reproductive rights