Meet the
Association of Data Protection Officers, Executive Committee


The Association of Data Protection Officers, Executive Committee comprises of a cross section of data protection practitioners from both the private and public sectors. The Executive Committee explores and provides expert advice on the data protection issues facing practitioners and individuals with data protection responsibilities in the course of their work.

The regulatory impact of data protection on businesses in this day and age can no longer be ignored and this is an objective ADPO strives to achieve by setting compliance expectations for its members and raising awareness on regulatory changes.

The executive committee is chaired by Fintan Swanton, Senior Consultant and Managing Director with Cygnus Consulting.

Fintan Swanton

Member Image Fintan Swanton, Senior Consultant and Managing Director with Cygnus Consulting, has been a data protection and management consultant since 2006. Fintan is founding Chairman of the Association of Data Protection Officers and past President of the Irish Computer Society. He collaborates with ICS Skills to present its data protection training programmes, as well as updating and developing their content. He consults with, advises and provides training to a range of organisations, public and private, on data protection compliance and is a member of the European Commission’s expert group on the application of the GDPR.

Ruth Hallinan

Member Image Ruth Hallinan is a certified Data Protection Practitioner and a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) with over twenty five years’ experience of working in both the Oil and Technology industries and within her own consultancy practice, RFH Consulting. She is compliance focused with experience in Data Protection and ISO27001 Information and Data Security. She is also a member of the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland.

Jared Browne

Member Image Jared Browne is the Fexco Group Data Governance Officer. With operations in 29 countries, Fexco are Ireland’s largest privately-owned financial services firm, and are headquartered in Killorglin, Co. Kerry. Jared has overall responsibility for data protection compliance across the Fexco group of companies.

Jared, originally a philosophy graduate, and a qualified a solicitor, has accumulated nearly ten years’ experience in the area of regulated financial services compliance. He is a European Certified Data Protection Officer as well as being an experienced speaker, having delivered many talks in the areas of data protection and technology.

Furthermore, Jared is a member of the Fintech and RegTech Working Group of the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland, and of the Data Protection Network in the UK. He has a particular interest in safeguarding the right to privacy.

David Hickey

Member Image David is CIO at Thornton Group, Insurance Loss Adjusters, where he advises the Board on strategic IT matters as well as managing the IT Department within the business. He was also recently appointed Data Protection Officer to the Group. David has over 30 years experience in ICT, and has spent half that time in consultancy, advising public and private clients in Ireland and internationally. He has also spent some years in corporate finance, governance and risk management functions.

Tom Hulton

Member Image Tom is a founder member of the ADPO Committee.

An experienced Chartered Accountant and Head of Internal Audit, Tom has been the Group Data Protection Officer with An Post since 2007. He holds the data practitioner certificate from the Irish Computer Society and is an active member of ADPO.

Audrey Barret

Bio coming soon

Margaret Loughlin

Bio coming soon

Maeve Dunne

Bio coming soon

Kevin Higgins

Bio coming soon

Tom Gilligan

Bio coming soon