Aidan Horan

Aidan Horan is a Director at the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) with overall responsibility for governance, assurance and related services. A qualified accountant, he is leader of the governance specialist team and is the founder member of the Governance Forum at the IPA. The spectrum of governance services provided by the Institute incorporates training, consultancy, advisory and supports for client organisations, boards, committees, chief executives and senior leadership teams and managers.

In addition to his work with board and senior leadership teams, Aidan has also been nominated to a number of non-executive roles over the years including as Audit Committee Chairperson, Department of Finance and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. He is also a member of the Public Financial Management Board and the Sustainability Panel at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy [CIPFA] (UK).

Dr Tom Ward

Tom is a Senior Governance Specialist in the IPA Governance Team, and re-joined the Institute in May 2017 having previously been a member of staff between 2006 and 2011. He co-manages the Governance Forum with Aidan Horan and works on a range of governance assignments for clients, including board effectiveness reviews and governance reviews, strategy development, and delivering training and workshop sessions on governance matters for boards and senior teams. He has worked with a range of organisations, including government departments, state agencies, local authorities, higher education institutions, and sport, community and charitable organisations.

Prior to re-joining the IPA in 2017, Tom was a Senior Manager and Consultant at Crowe, managing and delivering a range of assignments in the areas of governance, organisational design, and strategy. Prior to this, he held senior strategy and governance roles at the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). Tom started his career as a Parliamentary Assistant in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Tom is currently a non-executive member of the Audit & Risk Committee of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, and was previously a non-executive Director and Vice-Chair of Badminton Ireland (2017-2022), the national governing body for the sport.

Dr Nicolas Marcoux

Nicolas is a Senior Governance Specialist in the IPA Governance Team, providing assistance and consultancy services to various state and semi-state bodies, charities and not-for-profit organisations on issues regarding good governance arrangements, board effectiveness and impact assessment. His work primarily centres around training, board evaluations, gap analysis exercises, governance framework reviews, and the development of policies and procedures. 

Nicolas has also provided research assistance to the Charity Regulator Consultative Panel on the governance of charities in Ireland that led to the adoption of the Charities Governance Code by the CRA. He is an experienced trainer and provides training to EU Officials on Public Policy Analysis. He also contributes to the IPA Governance Forum, and the IPA Professional Certificate in Governance where he teaches on the governance of Irish not-for-profit organisations and charities.

Previous to his position at the IPA, Nicolas worked for the EU Commission providing support and capacity-building on governance reform to many public and semi-state bodies overseas.  He was also the CEO of a major not-for-profit organisation in South Africa when he ran the operations of the Society for Human Rights. Nicolas also possesses a deep understanding of the operations of the Irish public sector which he acquired as Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Unit of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.