Our Senior Team - Bios

Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor

Gabriel Makhlouf took up his position as Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland on 1 September 2019. He chairs the Central Bank Commission, is a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, a member of the European Systemic Risk Board, and is Ireland's Alternate Governor at the International Monetary Fund.

Before joining the Central Bank Gabriel was Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury and the Government's chief economic and financial adviser from 2011 to 2019. During his time as Secretary, he led reviews of New Zealand's three macroeconomic pillars (monetary, financial stability and fiscal policy) and the development of a new framework for the development of economic and public policy focused on intergenerational wellbeing. In addition Gabriel was New Zealand's Alternate Governor at the World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He was also co-chair of the Trans-Tasman Banking Council.

Previously Gabriel worked in the UK civil service where his roles ranged from policy on domestic and international tax issues through to large-scale operational delivery. He has also chaired the OECD’s Committee on Fiscal Affairs and was responsible for the UK's Government Banking Service.

Marcella Flood, Chief Operations Officer

Marcella Flood was appointed Chief Operations Officer on 20 March 2023. As Chief Operations Officer she is responsible for leading across the key operations areas of the People Directorate, Information Management and Technology, Finance and Business Performance, along with  Currency, Workplace and Regulatory Services. She also serves as a member of the Executive Leadership Team.

Prior to joining the Central Bank, Marcella held the roles of Transformation Program Manager for Allianz SE and previously was the Regional COO, North, Central and Eastern Europe at Allianz Partners. She has attained considerable Executive experience having held a number of C-suite roles and has deep technical expertise in Operations, Technology, Change and Transformation gained in Allianz, Microsoft, Bank of Ireland as well as start-ups and consultancies. Marcella is a Chartered Director and has held a number of Board positions including the Health Insurance Authority and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland.

Vasileios Madouros, Deputy Governor, Monetary and Financial Stability

Vasileios Madouros was appointed Deputy Governor, Monetary and Financial Stability in November 2022. In this role, he oversees the Economics & Statistics, Financial Stability and Financial Operations Directorates and leads engagement with domestic, Eurosystem and broader international stakeholders representing the Central Bank on wider financial system matters. Vasileios is an ex-officio Member of the Central Bank Commission  and is the Governor’s alternate at the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.

Prior to this appointment, Vasileios was Director of Financial Stability. In this role, he was responsible for the Central Bank's work to monitor threats to financial stability and provide advice on the use of macro-prudential tools, or other policy interventions, to mitigate those risks. Vasileios was also responsible for enhancing the Central Bank’s financial crisis preparedness and management capabilities as well as preparing for, and managing, the orderly resolution of relevant financial institutions. In this role, Vasileios was a member of the Plenary Board of the Single Resolution Board.  

Prior to joining the Central Bank, Vasileios spent most of his career at the Bank of England. His work at the Bank of England spanned a range of areas related to financial stability, covering macro-prudential policy development, stress testing, international finance, prudential policy and macro-financial risk assessment.

Vasileios holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Warwick and a M.Sc. in Economics from Birkbeck College, University of London.

Mary-Elizabeth McMunn, Deputy Governor, Financial Regulation

Mary-Elizabeth McMunn was appointed Deputy Governor Financial Regulation on 1 January 2025.  She is an ex-officio Member of the Central Bank Commission and is a member of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the General Board of the European Systemic Risk Board.

As Deputy Governor, Financial Regulation, Mary-Elizabeth is responsible for leading the regulation and supervision of credit institutions, credit unions and payments/electronic money institutions and the insurance sector.  She is also responsible for overseeing the Central Bank’s supervisory risk, framework, analytics and data functions and is responsible for leading the Central Bank’s regulatory policy at national, European and global level.  She chairs the Central Bank’s Supervisory Risk Committee. 

Prior to her appointment as Deputy Governor, Mary-Elizabeth was Director of Banking, Payments and Credit Union Supervision since 2018. She was responsible for the supervision and authorisation of banks, payment institutions and e-money institutions, and for the Registry of Credit Unions. Mary-Elizabeth joined the Central Bank in 1997 and has held senior roles in supervisory risk, banking supervision and insurance supervision, as well as having worked for a period in consulting.

Mary-Elizabeth holds an MSc in Investment & Treasury from Dublin City University, a BA in Economics from University College Dublin, a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors and is a graduate of the Smurfit Business School.

Derville Rowland, Deputy Governor, Consumer and Investor Protection

Derville Rowland is Deputy Governor at the Central Bank of Ireland. Prior to this, Derville was Director General of Financial Conduct. She is responsible for Consumer and Investor Protection, overseeing Retail Conduct, Securities and Markets Supervision as well as oversight of Anti-Money Laundering, Financial Sanctions and Enforcement.

Derville also serves as a member of both the management board and the board of supervisors of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and chairs its Investment Management Standing Committee.  Derville is a board member of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and is vice-chair of IOSCO’s European Regional Committee.

Prior to joining the Bank, Derville practiced as a barrister in the UK, where she completed a Bachelor of Law Degree and barrister's training (Inns of Court School of Law) in London. Subsequently she obtained a Barrister-at-Law degree from Kings Inns in Dublin and a Diploma in Applied Finance Law.

Annemarie Britz, Director of Finance & Business Performance

Annemarie Britz was appointed Director of Finance and Business Performance on 1 January 2024.

She joined the Central Bank in 2019 as the Head of the Financial Control Division. Prior to joining the Central Bank, Annemarie spent most of her career working in the private sector in South Africa where she held several CFO positions, and thereafter she joined the Reserve Bank of South Africa where she held the positions of Deputy CFO and Deputy Head Financial Markets. She represents the Central Bank as a member of the Budget Committee and the Accounting and Monetary Income Committee of the ECB.  Annemarie holds a BCom Accounting Honours degree, a Certificate in the Theory of Accounting from the University of Pretoria (South Africa), and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Glenn Calverley, Director of Strategy and Governance

Glenn Calverley was appointed Director of Strategy and Governance on 1 December 2021.

He joined the Central Bank in 2015 and prior to this appointment, held the positions of Head of Organisational Risk and subsequently, Head of Strategy and Foresight. Before joining the Central Bank, Glenn’s career spanned more than 15 years in various senior management positions, primarily in commercial banking, within the areas of risk management and organisational change.

Glenn has represented the Central Bank on various Eurosystem bodies, including the Risk Management Committee and as Chair of the Eurosystem Resilience Taskforce.

Glenn holds a MSc in Business from Trinity College Dublin and a MSc in Political Economy from the London School of Business.

Mark Cassidy, Director of Financial Stability

Mark Cassidy was appointed Director of Financial Stability on 1 November 2022. He is responsible for the Central Bank's work to monitor threats to financial stability and provide advice on the use of macro-prudential tools, or other policy interventions, to mitigate those risks. Mark is also responsible for enhancing the Central Bank’s financial crisis preparedness and management capabilities as well as preparing for, and managing, the orderly resolution of relevant financial institutions. Mark is a member of the Plenary Board of the Single Resolution Board.

Mark was Acting Deputy Governor, Monetary and Financial Stability, from 1 July 2022 to 31 October 2022. Previously he held the role of Director of Economics and Statistics, where he had been since December 2017. In this latter role, he was responsible for the Monetary Policy Division, the Irish Economic Analysis Division and the Statistics Division. Prior to his appointment Mark was Head of Financial Stability and has also been Head of Monetary Policy.

Mark has represented the Central Bank on a range of Eurosystem and international committees including the ECB’s Financial Stability Committee, the Monetary Policy Committee, the International Relations Committee and Banking Supervision Committee. He is also Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Bank’s Superannuation Scheme and was previously the Chair of the Central Bank's Brexit Taskforce.

Mark has over twenty years' experience in central banking and academia and holds a Ph.D in Economics from Trinity College Dublin.’

Gerry Cross, Director of Capital Markets & Funds 

Gerry Cross was appointed as Director of Capital Markets & Funds on 1 January 2025. In this role he is responsible for leading and overseeing the supervision of the funds sector, investment firms, retail intermediaries and securities & markets. This involves supervision of individual firms and across the sector across all of the Bank’s regulatory and supervisory responsibilities (consumer & investor interests, safety & soundness, integrity of the system and financial stability).

Prior to this he was Director of Financial Regulation - Policy and Risk since May 2015.  He lead the Central Bank’s work on prudential and markets conduct regulatory policy and its supervisory risk framework (PRISM). Gerry is a member of the EBA Board of Supervisors and alternate member of the EIOPA Board of Supervisors. He co-chairs EBA’s Standing Committee on Regulation and Policy.

Gerry has had an extensive career in the area of financial services regulation. Before joining the Central Bank he worked at the European Commission, the UK Financial Services Authority, Fortis Group, the Institute of International Finance, and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

Domhnall Cullinan, Director of Banking & Payments

Domhnall Cullinan was appointed as Director of Banking & Payments in January 2025. In this role he is responsible for responsible for leading the supervision of banks, credit unions, retail credit and credit servicing, and payment and e-money firms. This involves supervision of individual firms across all of the Bank’s regulatory and supervisory responsibilities (consumer & investor interests, safety & soundness, integrity of the system and financial stability).

Previously Domhnall was Director of Insurance Supervision. In this role he was responsible for overseeing the supervision of 200 life, non-life and reinsurance firms. He joined the Central Bank in 2003 working in Insurance Supervision, before being appointed as Head of General Insurance Supervision in 2012. In 2014, he became Head of Anti-Money Laundering Division before re-joining Insurance Supervision as Director in 2019.  Prior to joining the Central Bank, Domhnall spent two years as the Head of Investigations and Compliance at the Irish Pensions Regulator, following a decade in the Life and Pensions industry.

Domhnall holds an MBS in Business Practice (Irish Management Institute/University College Cork), the QFA FLIA designation, a Diploma in Corporate Governance (Corporate Governance Institute/Glasgow Caledonian University), and is a Qualified Pensions Trustee.

Seána Cunningham, Director of Insurance

Seána Cunningham was appointed Director of Insurance on 1 January 2025. As Director of Insurance, she is responsible for leading and overseeing the supervision of the domestic and international (Re)Insurance undertakings. This involves supervision of individual firms and across the sector across all of the Bank’s regulatory and supervisory responsibilities (consumer & investor interests, safety & soundness, integrity of the system and financial stability).

Previously Seána was Director of Enforcement and Anti-Money Laundering from January 2018, and prior to this, she was Head of Enforcement Advisory Division and Deputy Head of the Anti-Money Laundering Division at the Central Bank. She joined the Central Bank in 2011, having previously worked as a solicitor for over a decade in private practice in Ireland and the UK.

Louise Dennehy, Chief Information Officer

Louise Dennehy was appointed as Chief Information Officer in September 2019. She joined the Central Bank of Ireland as Head of IT Delivery in April 2017. Louise has over 25 year's experience in IT within the financial services industry, including holding a number of Head of IT roles. Louise is a graduate of University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin in science and IT related disciplines.

Patricia Dunne, Director of Horizontal Supervision

Prior to this she was Director of Securities and Markets Supervision since December 2021. The Securities and Markets Supervision Directorate (SMSD) was responsible for the supervision of primary and secondary securities markets; market integrity; wholesale market conduct supervision and the supervision of investments funds, fund service providers and trading venues.

Patricia has more than three decades of regulatory, supervisory and policy expertise in the asset management, investment funds and banking sectors which she has used to positively influence the leadership and strategic direction of financial regulation and the wider Central Bank. Prior to her appointment as Director, she was Head of Markets Supervision, responsible for the supervision and surveillance of financial markets, including the development of integrated data analytics and risk analysis supervision. She has enhanced the Central Bank’s effectiveness in the area of European and international policy development and contributed to the formulation of European regulatory policy and legislation on asset management and investment funds, representing the Central Bank on the Investment Management Standing Committee of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and chairing several ESMA working groups. 

Robert Kelly, Director of Economics and Statistics

Robert Kelly was appointed Director of Economics and Statistics on 1 February 2023. He is responsible for domestic economic forecasts and analysis, contributing to the development of euro area monetary policy and the compiling of Irish financial statistics to inform decision making of the European Central Bank, the Government, financial services firms and the public.

He joined the Central Bank in 2009 and prior to this appointment, he was Head of Macro Financial Division and held divisional management roles in the Economics and Statistics Directorate and Financial Stability Directorate. He has represented the Central Bank on a range of Eurosystem and international committees including the ECB’s Financial Stability Committee and the ESRB Advisory Technical Committee.

Robert has taught at Maynooth University and Trinity College Dublin and he has published research on credit dynamics, monetary and macroprudential policies in leading peer review publications.

Robert holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D in Economics and Finance from Maynooth University.

Colm Kincaid, Director of Enforcement

Colm Kincaid was appointed Director of Enforcement on 1 January 2025. In this role, he is responsible for leading and overseeing the Central Bank’s enforcement strategies, regulatory investigations and enforcement market abuse & oversight.

Prior to this he was Director of Consumer Protection since 1 October 2021. Previously he was Director of Securities and Markets Supervision, Head of Consumer Protection - Policy & Authorisations Division and Deputy Head of the Legal Division at the Central Bank. He joined the Central Bank in 2004, having previously practised as a solicitor in London and Dublin.

Anne Marie McKiernan, Director of Financial Operations

Anne Marie re-joined the Central Bank of Ireland in September 2023, to take up the role as Director of Financial Operations. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the core elements of the Central Bank’s Balance sheet, managing the Central Bank’s investment assets, developing and implementing Eurosystem monetary policy operation, leading payments policy development, operating the Irish component of Eurosystem’s payments and settlements infrastructures, and promoting the safety and efficiency of payment and securities settlements. She is the chair of the Central Bank’s Pension Investment Advisory Committee. 

William Molloy, Chief People Officer

William Molloy was appointed Chief People Officer on 1 May 2023.  He is responsible for the development and implementation of the Central Bank’s People strategy to enable and facilitate the development of a progressive, effective and efficient organisation, which is a fulfilling place to work.

Prior to taking up this position, William served as the Central Bank’s Director of Financial Operations with responsibility for overseeing the core elements of the Central Bank’s balance sheet, implementing Eurosystem monetary policy in Ireland, managing the Central Bank's investment assets, operating the Irish component of the Eurosystem's real time gross settlement system (TARGET2) and promoting the safety and efficiency of payments and securities settlement systems operating in Ireland and the Eurosystem.

William has also held leadership positions in the Central Bank in the Payments & Securities Settlement, Banking Supervision, Financial Markets and Organisational Risk divisions.  He has represented the Central Bank on a range of Eurosystem and international committees, including the ECB’s High Level Task Forces on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and Climate Change-related Sustainable and Responsible Investments (SRI).

He holds a B.A. in History, a Bachelor of Financial Services, an M.A. in History, an M.Sc. in Risk Management, and an MBS in Business Practice.

Karen O'Leary, Director of Currency, Workplace & Regulatory Services

Karen O’Leary was appointed Director of Currency, Workplace & Regulatory Services on 1 March 2025. In this role, Karen will be responsible for overseeing the provision of essential regulatory services as part of the Bank's broader regulatory mandate; ensuring the delivery of the Bank's currency services; and playing a crucial role in steering the Cash Centre Strategy, including the development and delivery of a new Cash Centre, a critical piece of State infrastructure.

Karen joined the Central Bank of Ireland in 2002 and worked in the area of Consumer Information & Education, before being seconded to the National Consumer Agency, where she served as Chief Executive and subsequently as Commission Member for the Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). She returned to the Bank in 2017 as Head of Organisation Development in the People Directorate prior to becoming Head of Payments & Securities Settlements.   

Karen holds a Masters in Business (Leadership & Management Practice) from UCD Smurfit as well as a degree in Marketing (from TUD) and a post graduate Diploma in EU Competition Law (from King’s College, London). 

Adrian Varley, Director of Supervisory Risk, Analytics and Data 

Adrian Varley was appointed Director of Supervisory Risk, Analytics and Data on 1 January 2025. In this role he is responsible for leading and overseeing the Bank’s supervisory framework and implementation of an integrated strategy, risk analysis and methodology in our supervisory approach, and undertaking quality assurance of our supervisory activities. A central Fitness & Probity function is also in the Directorate.

Previously he was Director of Prudential Analysis and Inspections since February 2018. Working with the directors of prudential supervision for the insurance, banking and asset management sectors, he was responsible for the risk analysts and inspectors that support the firm specific supervision teams.

Adrian joined the Central Bank in 2010 and prior to his appointment was Head of the Banking Supervision Analysis Division. He has a PhD in Mathematics from Warwick University and more than twenty years' experience of academia, investment banking and prudential supervision.

Elaine Byrne, Registrar of Credit Unions

Elaine Byrne was appointed Registrar of Credit Unions on 21 November 2022. Prior to this she held the position of Deputy Registrar of Credit Unions with functional responsibility for Policy and Restructuring. Elaine is Chair of the International Credit Union Regulators' Network (ICURN).

Elaine joined the Central Bank in 1987 and has occupied leadership positions in the Banking Supervision Division, Legal and Finance Division and in the Registry of Credit Unions, including as Deputy Registrar of Credit Unions since 2006. Elaine was appointed as the Central Bank nominee to the board of the statutory organisation, the Credit Union Restructuring Board (ReBo), on its establishment in 2013. She is the current Chair of the International Credit Union Regulators Network (ICURN), the global network for the supervision of financial cooperatives.

Prior to joining the Central Bank Elaine qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG.   Elaine holds a BComm from University College Dublin, a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors and in 2022 was admitted to the Institute of Directors in London as a Chartered Director. 

Vacancy - Director of Policy & International