John Power BE CEng FIEI

Chartered Engineer, Director General

John Power is Director General of Engineers Ireland.  Prior to joining Engineers Ireland in 2007 he was Head of Corporate Affairs at ESB.  John has also held several key positions during his time with ESB;  Managing Director of ESBI Consultants, Executive Director of ESB International Services & Industrial Holdings, as well as holding senior roles in  Human Resources and Corporate Change.  Before joining ESB, he was a Technical Advisor with General Electric in the USA and in South America.

He is currently Chairman of both the Rail Safety Advisory Council, established by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and also Chairman of the International Centre for Graduate Education in micro and nano Engineering (ICGEE) a collaboration between 10 national and international universities funded by IRCSET.

John is an Engineering graduate from UCD, holding a Masters in Industrial Engineering and an MBA.

Dr. John Butler BE, CEng FIEI

Chartered Engineer, HR Director

John is Director of HR with Engineers Ireland.

Prior to joining Engineers Ireland he  held a number of management positions with FAS, the Training and Employment Authority most recently as Manager of the Excellence Through People Programme which is the National Standard for Human Resource Management.

He has experience in a broad range of industrial sectors and has worked in  a number of organisations including General Electric. He has carried out work assignments throughout Europe , the USA, the Middle East and Far East.

He is a member of the Quality Management Standards National Committee.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree and a Masters of Industrial Engineering Degree both from University College Dublin and a PhD in business studies from Dublin City University.

John Byrne CMgr FCMI

Chartered Manager, Financial Controller

John Byrne is Engineers Ireland’s Financial Controller.

He has been a member of the senior management team at Engineers Ireland since joining the organisation in 1995.

Since commencement he has been responsible for the oganisations' overall financial management. A key part of this is responsibility for subscription renewal fee revenues and in 2000 he established the Corporate Subscription Scheme, currently with a membership of over 50 organisations.

From 2000 he has also had responsibility for premises management including operation of Engineers Ireland’s bar, restaurant and conference facilities and oversaw the 2005 €4m extension to headquarters at Clyde Road.

Between 1995 and 2009 he was also head of IT operations and development and in 2004 project managed the implementation of a new IT system which included the provision of key on line facilities to Engineers Ireland’s members.

In 2006 John was appointed Engineers Ireland’s first head of Human Resources, a role he held until 2008.

John’s current responsibilities include overall financial management, management accounting, subscription renewals management, provision of personnel services, new income generation and premises management.  

John is a Chartered Manager and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Aidan Harney MBS Chartered FCIPD

CPD Director

Aidan Harney is Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Director at Engineers Ireland. Aidan previously worked as Manager of the Engineers Ireland CPD Accredited Employer scheme, co-funded by the Irish Government, through the National Training Fund, and as a Professional Development Executive with Engineers Ireland, promoting the CPD scheme in industry. Prior to joining Engineers Ireland he held a management position in the financial services firm AIG Life Ireland Ltd. and was a management consultant with Peter Hancock International for some time.

He has provided management consultancy advice and training to a large number of firms, across all sectors of engineering, in both the public- and private sector. He is a member the Royal Irish Academy’s Committee for Engineering Sciences (2009-2013).

Aidan holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Ulster, Coleraine, and a Business Studies Masters in Human Resource Strategies from Dublin City University Executive Business School. He has returned to DCU to guest lecture on his research topic: mentoring.

Aidan’s current role focuses on overall CPD policy and strategy for Engineers Ireland, involving as stakeholders our members, employers, Government, third level institutions, training providers and other representative bodies.

Fionnuala Kilbane BSc MRPII

Marketing and Communications Director

Fionnuala Kilbane is the Engineers Ireland Marketing and Communications Director. She joined the organisation in April 2007. Previously, Fionnuala was with Pembroke Communications where she worked on a number of construction, technology and property accounts.  She has over 14 years communications and marketing experience both in Ireland and the UK. 

Fionnuala is a graduate of DIT and began her career in-house with the corporate communications department of London Electricity.  In 1997, she moved to Kelvin Hughes, the naval and marine division of Smiths Industries.

She transferred from an in-house role to an account executive position with marketing services agency, Kinross and Render in 1999.  While there, she worked with a number of clients including UK construction company, Galliford Try and technology companies Xerox and Diebold.  As a senior account manager she was responsible for managing the national launch of the Institution of Civil Engineer’s (ICE) ‘State of the Nation’ report which raised the profile of engineering in the UK.  Fionnuala also worked with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) in gaining media coverage for its quarterly manufacturing survey.

Fionnuala is responsible for directing Engineers Ireland’s marketing and PR activity.

Margie McCarthy BE CEng FIEI

Chartered Engineer, Membership Director

Margie McCarthy, Chartered Engineer, is a Fellow and Membership Director of Engineers Ireland. Margie is responsible for the delivery of the professional titles review process; membership recruitment and election process; graduate and third level liaison; and the STEPS programme. This is the Engineers Ireland schools programme which promotes engineering and technology as a career of choice to primary and post-primary students.  Margie was previously the STEPS Manager.

Margie joined Engineers Ireland from J.B. Barry & Partners Ltd., where she was a Senior Engineer for seven years involved in the Civil/Environmental sector.  In that position she dealt with detailed design, project management, public/stakeholder consultation and business development. Prior to that she worked with Aer Rianta Technical Consultants where her role involved responsibility for the onsite liaison between airfield construction and air traffic control on an active airfield, procurement and project management of large and small scale capital projects, and runway and pavement design. Margie also holds a licentiate in acting.

She graduated from University College Cork in 1997 with a BE in Civil Engineering.

Margie’s role focuses on:

• Upkeep of professional standards within the professional review process
• The Membership Boards – Membership & Qualification Board and the Board of Examiners
• Member services
• Membership routes/procedures
• Engineering career support
• STEPS programme

Damien Owens BA BAI CEng MIEI

Chartered Engineer, Registrar

Damien Owens, Chartered Engineer, is Registrar for Engineers Ireland. His  role involves ensuring the academic standard of  engineering qualifications and adherence of membership criteria to best international standards.  Damien previously worked as a telecommunications consultant with eircom.With 20 years experience in telecommunications and IT industry he has worked in a variety of areas and has extensive expertise in the area of strategic alliances and collaborative ventures. In previous roles he has been responsible for new service development and has presented material as industry expert at many specialist conferences.  In the past Damien has been a representative on standardisation bodies  in Ireland (ETCI) and overseas ( ITUT and EU). He has also ran a consultancy providing specialist advice in the area of new product development.As a member of Engineers Ireland Damien  has been chairman of the ICT Division, a member of the Executive Committee and was elected to serve on Council and recently chaired a review group which deployed new MIS infrastructure to support the organisation.

Damien  graduated from Trinity College Dublin with  Primary and Master degrees in engineering and a Masters and Master in Business Administration from the Open University. Within Engineers Ireland, Damien’s role focuses on:

• Regulation of the Engineering profession
• Accreditation of Engineering courses
• Engineering career opportunities
• IT infrastructure to support Engineers Ireland strategy.