New BIOA Chair – Emily O'Reilly
Emily O'Reilly took over the Chair of the BIOA at the 2008 Annual Meeting. She is the Association's first Chair from the Republic of Ireland.
Emily O'Reilly was appointed Ireland's third Ombudsman on the 1 June 2003 by the President of Ireland, Mrs Mary McAleese, on the nomination of each of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Dail and Seanad). Prior to her appointment, Emily was a journalist and author and had been a political correspondent for various media outlets since 1989.
At the same time, the Ombudsman was also appointed Ireland's second Information Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act 1997. In this role Emily O'Reilly provides an independent review of decisions relating to the right of access of members of the public to records held by public bodies. She is also a member of the Standards in Public Office Commission, the Dáil Constituency Commission and the Commission for Public Service Appointments.
Emily is a native of Tullamore, Co Offaly and is married with five children. She was educated at University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. She was also the recipient of a Nieman Fellowship in Journalism at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.