Meet the Team

Neal McGroarty

Chief Executive Officer

Neal joined Orpea Residences Ireland in June 2021, as Chief Executive Officer for Ireland. He brings significant level of experience from his time as Chief Financial Officer of Brindley Healthcare, Corporate Partner PKF and holding a number of international positions across advisory roles since 2008. Over this period Neal has advised on numerous investments within the healthcare sector across Europe.

After completing a B.Sc. at NUI Maynooth, Professional Diploma Accountancy at DCU, Neal qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2011 and completed various post graduate qualifications in Corporate Finance, Tax and Leadership & Communication Management.

Neal is passionate about delivering Orpea’s vision for Ireland, creating a sustainable elderly healthcare model and being the provider of choice nationally. Fundamental to achieving this is implementing the highest possible quality of care in an environment where our residents & families feel safe and cared for.

Jude O'Neill

Chief Operations Officer

Jude has extensive experience in the health and social care sector. Since qualifying as a mental health nurse in 1991, Jude has worked in a range of hospital and community posts, including at Assistant Chief Nurse level and as a Nurse Inspector. Jude was also employed as Head of Programme for Mental Health and Disability at the Regulation Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in Northern Ireland where he discharged the Mental Health Commission (MHC) function for Northern Ireland having managed the transfer of the MHC to the RQIA.

Jude has also worked as an Inspector Manager with the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and was Head of Social Care at the HSE where he managed services for older people and children and adults with a disability. Prior to joining Orpea Residences Ireland, Jude was Chief Operating Officer at Brindley Healthcare. Jude has the following qualifications, MSc Nursing Science; PG Diploma in Health Psychology; PG Certificate in Health Service Management; BSc (Hons) Health Studies and a Certificate in Mental Health Nursing.

Cathy Jones

Chief Human Resources Officer

Cathy is an experienced Chief Human Resources Officer with over 25 years Human Resources experience. She has a demonstrated history of working as Human Resources Director for the healthcare, hospitality and services industry. Skilled in Employee Relations, Recruitment , Industrial Relations, Training , Team Building, and Strategic Management. Cathy is a strong human resources professional with a passion for people development.

Cathy is a qualified Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD). Cathy has strong belief in the whole concept of coaching and what it can contribute to Talent succession planning and to ensure ongoing Business Agility and innovation. Cathy is also a qualified Executive & Life Coach and accredited Practitioner by the European Mentoring & Coaching Council and (EMCC) and a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Elaine Keane

Chief Quality Officer

Elaine Keane has over 30 years’ experience in nursing and has been a nurse leader in various specialities since 1999.
As well as her nursing qualifications, she holds a Diploma in First Line Management (NCI), a BA in Public Management (Healthcare) (IPA) and a MSc. Leadership from RCSI.

Elaine has worked in older persons’ services for the last 18 years across the voluntary and private residential care settings and is a passionate advocate for person centred care.

Her contribution has involved supporting the establishment of an older person rehabilitation in-patient service linked to Tallaght University Hospital, the movement from congregated settings to individualised community based accommodation for adults with an intellectual disability and supporting the design and commissioning of purpose built residential homes for older people.

Having worked as Director of Nursing in Peamount Healthcare for 11 years, in 2015, Elaine joined TLC Nursing Home Group as Director of Clinical Services. In June 2021 she was appointed as Chief Quality Officer for ORPEA Residences Ireland, where her role is to lead the Quality Department to drive excellence in care delivery, compliance with regulatory requirements and to lead innovation and service design to ultimately enhance resident and family experiences of residential and homecare services.

Alan Donnelly

Chief Financial Officer

Alan is a qualified Chartered Accountant with nearly 20 years experience in senior financial roles in both practice and industry. Alan trained in KPMG, and subsequently held senior finance roles in Virgin Media (Liberty Global Group) and subsequently DCC plc. In August 2021, Alan joined Orpea Residences Ireland as Chief Financial Officer and Board Member for the Irish business unit.

Alan has a lot of international experience and has spent a number of years working and living in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and France, and has vast experience with mergers & acquisitions and also business integrations across various sectors.