Speaker Biographies:

Graham is Secretary General of the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage. Previously he was Secretary General of the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport.

As well as the priority challenge of housing, the Department is responsible for water infrastructure; the Irish planning system; effective local government in Ireland; conservation and the management of architectural and natural heritage as well as biodiversity; and also the areas of franchise and electoral reform.

Graham was an external recruit to the Irish Civil Service in 2013. His background is in business management and management consulting with experience in insolvency, corporate finance and business strategy and in airport management.

 Sonya Kavanagh is a Kildare native with 30 years of Local Government experience.  She became Chief Executive of Kildare County Council in July 2022.  Sonya has previously worked in key delivery roles in Economic, Community & Cultural Development, Roads, Transportation & Public Safety, Housing and Corporate Services.  She has represented the CCMA (County and City Management Association) on working groups and forums with a focus on the Leader Programme, the LECP (Local Economic and Community Plan) and the SICAP Programme.  Sonya is currently a member of the CCMA Executive.

Gerard has been a civil servant for over 30 years having worked in a wide range of roles in several government Departments, including: The Executive Office, Department for Infrastructure, Department for Culture Arts and Leisure, Department of Education and Department for Communities. He has held the position of Director of Local Government and Housing Regulation Division since December 2024.

In this role, Gerard has responsibility for the policy and legislation which sets the administrative, financial and governance arrangements within which NI’s 11 District Councils operate. Gerard has responsibility for central/local government relationships through the Permanent Secretary and Council Chief Executive engagement forum (PSG/SOLOACE) and the Partnership Panel, an engagement forum for Executive Ministers and Councillors. He is currently leading on the development of a new Collaboration and Delivery Agreement to enhance relationships and streamline governance of grant funding from central to local government. Gerard is responsible for a wide range of social policy and legislation, including for Liquor Licensing and Gambling. His remit also includes regulation of Registered Housing Associations and The Appeal Service, which provides administrative support to tribunals set up to hear appeals against decisions made by the Department for Communities and others.

Gerard holds a Bsc Hons 1^st Class degree in Business Studies and an Msc (Distinction) in Leadership and Innovation in the Public Sector. He is also a graduate of the Leaders for Tomorrow Programme, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. Gerard has completed Prince II, Managing Successful Programmes and the Project Leadership Programme at Cranfield University.

Alison McCullagh took up post as Chief Executive of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council on 1 February 2020; from December 2014, she had been the Council’s Director of Regeneration and Planning. Prior to this, Alison had been Omagh District Council’s Head of Development, she has also worked in higher education and in the voluntary and community sector. She is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, the Federal Executive Institute, Charlottesville, Virginia, and also studied at Boston College. Alison has led a number of strategic capital and partnership projects within the Council district and on a cross border basis and has a particular interest in community led regeneration and wider place shaping initiatives.
She is the current Co-Chair of the Northern Ireland Emergency Preparedness Group (NIEPG) and Vice
Chair of SOLACE NI.

Dr Cedric Chau, as Director of Senior Public Service at the Institute of Public Administration, is responsible for leading the strategic leadership development, the continuous professional development and the executive coaching of civil and public servants across the top level of the Irish Civil and Public Service. Cedric holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering, a Master in Business Studies and a Doctorate in Public Sector Leadership.

Prior to his current appointment, Cedric was a senior faculty member of the Institute for over twenty years. He was a senior lecturer and programme director at the Institute’s Whitaker School of Government and Management, leading a number of their public sector development programmes in both Ireland and overseas. Prior to joining the Institute, Cedric worked in both industry and academia. He was a member of the Executive Leadership Team of a multinational manufacturing corporation and was also a visiting academic to a number of leading universities in Ireland, in the UK and in the People’s Republic of China.

Ade McCormack is the founder of the Intelligent Leadership Hub thinktank
(intelligentleadershiphub.org). He is a former technologist, with a background in astrophysics and
software engineering, who today advises leaders on transformational matters. Ade has lectured at
MIT Sloan School of Management on digital leadership and currently works with Cambridge
University on their executive education programmes. He is a former Financial Times columnist and
has written six books on digital matters.

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