Professor Niamh Moloney

The new competitive research and innovation funding agency amalgamates and builds on the activities and functions of the Irish Research Council (IRC) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).

It will work under the aegis of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, in close collaboration with the Higher Education Authority, as well as Enterprise Ireland, the Industrial Development Agency and other research funding agencies.

Professor Moloney, professor of financial markets law at LSE Law School, is one of the nine inaugural board members named last week.

She was educated at Trinity College Dublin and Harvard Law School and has written a number of books on EU financial market regulation.

She also serves as an independent, non-executive director of the board of the Central Bank of Ireland and as a member of the board of appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities.

Research minister Patrick O’Donovan said: “I want to thank the new board members for bringing their experience and expertise to the development of Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland. Their range of backgrounds and skills will be hugely beneficial to the new agency and to realising the ambitions of the Impact 2030 Strategy.

“This board brings a wealth and balance of both research and governance experience. The recruitment process has been grounded in ensuring that the agency has the best possible array of competencies, voices, skills, and experience, to articulate a balanced perspective across all disciplines and across the full spectrum of research and innovation.

“This has delivered a highly competent board with an impressive assembly of the strengths and skills the new agency requires. I am very pleased to welcome the new board and wish them every success.”