Before joining the CIF, Tom served as a TD for Laois – Offaly and as Minister for State at the Department of Finance from 2002 until 2007. As Minister he was responsible for the Office for Public Works (OPW).

From 1997 to 2001, Tom was President of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), having previously held several other positions with the association.

He is from Coolderry in Co. Offaly.

Hubert Fitzpatrick is responsible for the day to day running of the internal organisation. He is secretary to the CIF Executive Body and the Federation’s Audit and Organisation committee. He oversees the provision of a range of functions and business support services

Hubert is executive director of CPAS which administers the CWPS, CERS, Sick Pay and CIRT schemes.

He previously held the position of Director of Housing Planning and Development Services and had Director-responsibility for the Eastern Region of the Federation.

Prior to joining the Federation, Hubert worked in consultancy with a major law firm and worked with a number of local authorities up to senior management level.

Gillian is PA to the Director-General and Chief Operations Officer.  She also looks after the administration work for the Federation's President during his / her term of office.

As well as these duties Gillian provides secretarial work to the Federation's Executive Body and some of its Sub-committees.  She has been with the CIF since 1989.

Maude is responsible for the onboarding and retention of CIF Members. Additionally, she acts as the liaison between members and all functional areas within CIF to resolve service, support, and billing enquiries.

Maude joined CIF in 2014 and was involved in the establishment of CIRI (Construction Industry Register Ireland) before being promoted to her current role.

Bernardine is responsible for marketing and membership development at the CIF. She has worked in similar roles in a number of leading representative bodies in Ireland.

At CIF, Bernardine’s main responsibilities include securing and growing new business for the organisation.

Shane and his team are responsible for devising and delivering external and internal communications strategies on behalf of the CIF.

Shane is also responsible for the development and management of media relations, media engagement strategies, public affairs, government affairs and stakeholder engagement.

Jennifer Nisbet-Daly joined the CIF in 2018 and holds a BBus in Marketing & Event Management, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Innovation & Enterprise from University College Dublin. Jennifer also holds a National Diploma in Media & has a QQI award for Business Planning.

Alongside the management of corporate & commercial relationships, Jennifer plays a key role in the delivery of the CIF's government, public affairs & media relations strategy, overseeing and contributing to the production of internal and external communications materials such as Construction Magazine, Construction Matters, press statements, and CIF reports.

Dermot Carey heads up Safety & Training Department within the CIF. Dermot has responsibility for developing and guiding the CIF’s policy in these areas.

Along with shaping policy, the role involves liaising with Government departments, the Education sector and members on issues and providing assistance with member safety regulatory compliance. Included in this role is the operation of the Safe-T-Cert accreditation service and its day-to-day operations in the Republic of Ireland.

John provides executive support for members of the CIF, primarily in the sphere of health and safety.

One of John’s key objectives is to develop and deliver health and safety policies and initiatives for the construction sector. John also participates in working groups for the CIF and the Construction Safety Partnership Advisory Committee (CSPAC).

Jean and her team provide information and advice to contractors on managing their workforce to ensure compliance with employment protective legislation.

The Department also represents contractors at third party hearings, including the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court.

Jean represents the industry at national level on the NJIC and ENJIC. The Department also provides sample contracts of employment, staff handbooks (which include all relevant policies and procedures) and reference guides.

Cheryl provides professional advice and support to members regarding employment disputes and compliance with employment protective legislation.

She negotiates with employee representatives and represents members at third party hearings at the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court.

Cathy joined the CIF in 2003 and over the following years, Cathy worked in the Industrial Relations and Manpower Department giving advice to members regarding Employment Law and HR issues. More recently in addition to advising members in Employment Law, Cathy now offers full-time support to the Housing Director, in an administrative role.

Dermot Carey heads up Safety & Training Department within the CIF. Dermot has responsibility for developing and guiding the CIF’s policy in these areas.

Along with shaping policy, the role involves liaising with Government departments, the Education sector and members on issues and providing assistance with member safety regulatory compliance. Included in this role is the operation of the Safe-T-Cert accreditation service and its day-to-day operations in the Republic of Ireland.

Robert Butler heads up the CIF Learning & Development Department and has responsibility for developing and delivering the CIF’s CPD programmes, as well as the externally accredited training programmes.

Robert has responsibility for developing new content including e-learning modules with our business partners.

Conor is responsible for new business development for the CIF Learning & Development Department. He liaises with members and non-members in relation to courses taking place throughout the different regions. He advises on courses that are most applicable to companies and learners requirements

Kim is responsible for credit control and aged debt control. Kim’s key responsibilities are in dealing with QQI for our accredited programs.

Kim provides administration for the following CIF programs; QQI Level 6 Building Control program, QQI Level 6 Project Supervisor Construction Stage, CIF IOSH Project Supervisor Design Process, CIF Appointed Persons for Crane program, CIF /EPA Radon program, CIF Core Safety Management Renewal Regional programs, CIF Management & Inspection of Scaffolding program, Conservation Theory Heritage Contractors program, Air Tightness Program. Kim also controls the CIF Virtual Academy programs.

Paul Sheridan is a Chartered Engineer and holds a postgraduate diploma in Construction Law and Contract Administration. He also has experience in and holds qualifications in Strategy and Innovation, Business Transformation, Organisation Development, Lean 6-Sigma and Strategic HR.

Paul began his career as a Contract Manager in the Water and Waste Water Industry. He previously worked in the Tendering and Contracting Department in the CIF before working as an Executive in Industrial Property Development sector. Since then, Paul has worked with Engineers Ireland and the Royals College of Surgeons in areas of policy development, governance, internal consultancy, membership support and service, advocacy, representation, quality assurance and process excellence, accreditation, academic and professional education, training, strategy and business transformation.

Alison Irving joined the CIF as an administrator in 2008 and has been an Executive since 2013 and Secretary to the Civil Engineering Contractors Association since 2016. She provides assistance and guidance to members on issues relating to prequalification, tendering, contractual matters and disputes amongst other matters.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree, a Masters’ degree in Criminal Justice and was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2014.

Denise Tuffy joined the CIF in 2016 and holds a Masters’ in Business Administration from Trinity College Dublin.

She is responsible for the administration function within the Department, in connection with Associations, Committees and Sub-Committees, and deals with member queries on a wide variety of issues.

A Chartered and Registered Building Surveyor with over 20 years post graduate, technical and project management experience in Irish and European building projects.

Managing specialist and subcontractor trade associations to assist in the development of professional, efficient contracting businesses. Our aim is to showcase the value of our member companies as 'best in class' and to help them achieve their business growth ambitions.

Leading initiatives on innovation, BIM and continuous improvement for the construction sector.

Specialist support areas primarily include, advising on contract, payment, dispute resolution and procurement issues.

Gillian Ross is responsible for the executive support of specialist associations’ business within the Federation.

Gillian administers a range of member services activities covering marketing and promotion of associations, lobbying and representation. She also deals with member queries on procurement, tendering and contractual matters, amongst other issues.

James Benson is a qualified Engineer and Quantity Surveyor graduating from Waterford Institute of Technology and Dublin Institute of Technology respectively. James spent several years of his professional career surveying with building contractors before specializing in the field of passive fire protection before joining CIF.

James offers support and advise to the members, liaison with local authorities and is developing a field of expertise within building regulations and planning services for members.

He also services the following regional branches of the CIF – Kildare, Kilkenny/ Carlow, North East, Wicklow/ North Wexford.

Cathy joined the CIF in 2003 and over the following years, Cathy worked in the Industrial Relations and Manpower Department giving advice to members regarding Employment Law and HR issues. More recently in addition to advising members in Employment Law, Cathy now offers full-time support to the Housing Director, in an administrative role.

Jeanette is the CIF’s Head of Economic and Policy Research. She works with Federation policy committees and Directors, helping to guide policy across a spectrum of economic / industry / fiscal / regulatory / development issues. She is also responsible for carrying out and commissioning new research, expanding the CIF’s information databases, preparation of submissions and strategy papers and advocating on various industry matters to support CIF’s dialogue with key policy stakeholders.

Jeanette joined the CIF in 2007 as Housing, Planning and Development Executive, a role she held until 2017. She was Project Manager of CIRI (Construction Industry Register Ireland) from 2013 to 2017 during which time she oversaw the establishment and operation of the new register. Jeanette has been Manager of the CIF’s Register of Heritage Contractors since 2011.

Denis joined CIF in 2016 to manage IT within the group of companies in CIF. Denis manages the IT across CIF and CPAS (CWPS, CERS & Milestone Advisory). Starting out in Intel, Denis has worked in the Private Sector, Public Sector and Not for Profit Sector during his 23 year carrier in IT.  He is a graduate of Trinity Collage Dublin and holds an honours degree in Management of Information Systems.

Denis delivers transformational change across the organisations, leveraging IT to support, enhance and transform the work of the CIF and the pension function within the group. He also has a breath of experience in organisational management, with skills in Programme Management, Process Improvement, Pension Software Development, Governance, Strategic Planning, Change Management, Quality, Risk, HR and H&S.

Denis is a member of the Executive Group in CPAS and the Senior Management Team in CIF, ensuring IT is at the heart of all strategic thinking and change programmes across the group.

Paul joined the CIF in 2017 and prior to this spent several years delivering IT Services across Financial, Banking and Telecommunications organisations in Ireland. Paul is a qualified IT Professional graduating from the Institute of Technology Carlow and Dublin Business School.

Paul is the ICT Service Delivery Lead in the CIF and provides support across all IT systems for CIF. He also co-ordinates the delivery of ICT Projects and manages IT Vendors ensuring effective use of technology to support the activities and strategies of the Federation

James Benson is a qualified Engineer and Quantity Surveyor graduating from Waterford Institute of Technology and Dublin Institute of Technology respectively. James spent several years of his professional career surveying with building contractors before specializing in the field of passive fire protection before joining CIF.

James offers support and advise to the members, liaison with local authorities and is developing a field of expertise within building regulations and planning services for members.

He also services the following regional branches of the CIF – Kildare, Kilkenny/ Carlow, North East, Wicklow/ North Wexford.

Conor O’Connell is currently Director (Southern Region) with the Construction Industry Federation. Conor joined the CIF in 2001 and has worked in several roles within the CIF representing members and industry issues to a wide variety of industry stakeholders. Conor is also the Secretary of the Regional Development Committee of the CIF and is responsible for the development of CIF Regional Development Policy as well as stakeholder engagement on construction policy issues across Government Departments, Semi-State Agencies, Local Authorities, Politicians and various regional bodies.

Conor is a strong advocate for the role of the construction industry in regional development through the provision of infrastructure. Conor holds a mix of qualifications in Business, Law, Industrial Relations and prior to his current role he worked extensively in employee relations in the construction sector.

He is responsible for the management of the Cork Office and the services provided to members throughout the Southern Region.

Ronan O’Brien is an Executive for the CIF Southern Region, servicing the South East, Cork, Mid West and Kerry Branches of the CIF. A graduate of Waterford Institute of Technology, Ronan has worked in the construction industry all of his professional career.

His career has involved working with large multi-national organisations in the Middle East and Canada, in the Oil & Gas and Mining & Metal industries, before returning to the Irish market.

Ronan deals with member queries on procurement, tendering and contractual matters, amongst other issues. He also represents member interests on a number of Regional Committees and to Regional Local Authorities. He also liaises with key industry stakeholders, to secure guest speakers for morning briefings and other events in the Southern Region for CIF members.

Bríd has worked in the Cork Office of CIF since 1997.  She provides administrative support to staff in both the Cork and Galway offices and looks after reception for the CIF Cork Office.

As well as greeting all visitors to the office and handling public & member queries, she also handles the many telephone calls made to the Cork and Galway offices.  Bríd is also the main point of contact for all CIF publications such as contracts and other materials.

Bríd co-ordinates all of the in-house facilities with respect to training courses and meetings held in the Cork Office.

Justin Molloy is the Director for the CIF in the Western and Midland and has extensive experience of working in the construction industry. He is currently responsible for managing the four CIF Western and Midland regional branches; Galway, Donegal, North West and Midland Branches.

Justin also offers expert advice and support to the members, as well as representing their interests on a number of regional committees. He regularly meets with the regional Local Authorities, State Agencies and other industry bodies to further the aims of the industry.

Antoinette joined the CIF administration team in 2016, bringing over 15 years of experience with her.

Antoinette is in charge of the activities that relate to the Construction Industry Register Ireland (CIRI), the new official online register of competent builders.

Julie oversees the activities that relate to the Construction Industry Register Ireland (CIRI), the official online register of competent builders. Along with this, Julie is also responsible for the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) element of CIRI.