- Our Board
Board of Directors
Michael O'Connell
NOVAS Chairperson
Michael O Connell joined the Board in 2021 and became Chair in 2024.
Michael is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ senior management and leadership experience in the public service and higher education. He retired from Limerick Institute of Technology as Vice President for Strategy and External Affairs in 2015. His experience includes leadership in financial planning and control, human resources, strategic planning and development and institutional mergers, restructuring and governance.
Since retiring, Michael has worked part time as a higher education consultant for a wide number of institutions in Ireland and since 2020 internationally. He is a member of the Higher Education Authorities’ Finance and Governance Board Sub Committee since 2017.
Michael serves or has served on a voluntary basis on the boards of several registered charities including Team Hope, the Irish Bible Institute, Shannon Dragons and Healing Streams Community Church. Michael joined NOVAS as a member of the Finance and Audit Board subcommittee in January 2020, becoming a Director in May 2021.
Leah McMahon
NOVAS Board Member
Leah McMahon was appointed to the Audit and Finance Committee in 2025 and joined the Board in 2026.
Leah is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with Fairstone Limerick. She holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from the University of Limerick and subsequently qualified as a Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) through the Life Insurance Association (LIA) and as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional through the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB).
Leah is passionate about promoting financial literacy, particularly among women and young adults, and empowering people to build confidence in managing their finances.
Outside of work, Leah coaches the U10 Ahane girls’ football team and plays with Ahane Mothers and Others.
Judy Tighe
NOVAS Board Member
Judy joined the Board in 2026 following a distinguished 45-year career with AIB Bank, from which she retired earlier that year.
Over the course of her career, Judy held a variety of senior management and people leadership roles, with responsibilities spanning team leadership, relationship management and branch operations. Her positions included Lead Business Relationship Manager for the AIB team in Limerick City and County, Branch Manager for Croom and Adare, and Senior Branch Manager at AIB’s O’Connell Street branch.
Throughout her career, Judy was responsible for leading teams, delivering challenging business plans and achieving strategic objectives while upholding the highest standards of governance, risk management and regulatory compliance.
Judy brings extensive leadership experience, strong relationship management skills and a wealth of organisational and operational expertise to her role on the Board.
Dian Loposso
NOVAS Board Member
Patricia Cremen
NOVAS Board Member
Dr. Patricia Cremen was appointed to the board in 2025.
Patricia is an experienced Social Care Educator, Student Counsellor and an IAHIP accredited Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapist. Patricia has lectured in TUS (Technological University of the Shannon) on the Social Care programme in addition to the University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College Limerick and the Irish College Louvain. Patricia is interested in active learning strategies and particularly in experiential small group learning. The focus of her research is in the subject area of Personal Development in the training and education of Social Care Workers.
Mary O Shea
NOVAS Board Member
Mary has extensive experience working in the statutory and voluntary sectors. Her areas of expertise include social work, addiction, management and education.
She has held key positions in the Probation Service and Drug Treatment Services. She worked as Assistant Director in Merchants Quay Ireland for ten years and as Director of Dublin AIDS Alliance for three and a half years.
She set up O’Shea Consulting in 2011, specialising in addiction, family law, group and individual supervision, training and mediation. She also worked part time as Practice Tutor in University College Dublin for the Masters in Social Work (MSW) up to August 2025 and is currently on the Advisory Committee.
She worked as a panel member of the Inspectorate of Prisons and on the Mental Health Tribunals.
She holds qualifications in Social Work, has a MSc in Drug & Alcohol and an MA in cross professional supervision.
She is an accredited counsellor and supervisor with the ACI (Addiction Counsellors of Ireland) and on the panel of supervisors with the IASW (Irish Association of Social Workers). She is also registered with CORU (Regulating Health + Social Care Professionals Institute of Ireland).