Four solicitors are among a number of appointments to registration boards announced by the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly today (12 April).

Aoife Kelly-Desmond (managing solicitor at Mercy Law Resource Centre, pictured) has been appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board for a four-year term, from 28 March 2023 to 10 March 2027.

Mercy Law is an independent law centre that provides free legal advice and representation to people at risk of homelessness.

Peggy Hughes, Avril Sheridan appointed

Peggy Hughes, a specialist pensions lawyer at Mason Hayes & Curran, joins the Radiographers Registration Board. Her appointment runs from 28 March 2023 to 23 January 2026.

A former nurse, Hughes has written and lectured in the Law Society of Ireland on pensions law, and is also on the committee of the DisAbility Legal Network.

Avril Sheridan, a solicitor with 22 years’ litigation experience in the Legal Aid Board, joins the Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board. Her appointment is from 28 March 2023 to 13 February 2024.

Sheridan, who has a post-graduate Diploma in Judicial Skills from the Law Society, is currently practising as a certified mediator and facilitator.

Another qualified solicitor, Dara Purcell, has been appointed to the board of the Health and Social Care Professionals Council for a four-year term. He is currently Corporate Secretary for the Health Service Executive (HSE). 

The appointments, which come after a Public Appointments Service campaign, are being made under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005.

This legislation covers the regulation of 17 designated professions in the sector.