GWEN JORDAN is a Senior Executive Planner with 25 years of experience in local authorities. Gwen has worked for Cork City Council since 2005 and in that time, she has worked in a variety of planning roles. She currently oversees development proposals and planning applications for Cork City Centre and South-central area. Key areas of Gwen’s work have involved urban regeneration projects, conservation of built heritage, residential strategy, grant schemes and tax incentive initiatives for refurbishing buildings.

Lawrence Owens is currently a Director of the Cork Business Association and a former past President of the organisation. He is well known in Cork as the long serving General Manager of Roches Stores and Debenhams.  He has spearheaded many campaigns on behalf of local businesses and his retail experience brings a depth of understanding of the challenges faced by retail businesses.

Mary McCarthy is the Director of Crawford Art Gallery one of Ireland’s National Cultural Institutions. She was appointed Director of the Crawford Art Gallery in 2018 and since then has worked with the Gallery team and the Board to advance a major capital redevelopment programme. As well as significantly developing the Gallery’s collection through acquisitions and donations. Mary is currently spearheading the ambitious redevelopment of Crawford Art Gallery . The project, which is being funded by the Minister’s Department, has been designed by an interdisciplinary design team, led by award-winning Grafton Architects, and is being delivered by the Office of Public Works and Crawford Art Gallery.

Bernard Dwyer is an experienced Town Planner with over 12 years of experience. Bernard is currently lecturing on the M.Plan (Master’s programme in Planning and Sustainable Development) in University College Cork. Prior to this, Bernard spent several years working as a private practice planning consultant and amassed extensive experience in the preparation of large planning applications, appeals, development plan submissions, site appraisals and research for a wide variety of clients including private developers, multinationals and semi-state bodies. Bernard also spent some time working as a graduate planner in Cork City Council c. 2015 where he worked on painting grant schemes, derelict sites and community engagement initiatives. 

Ashleigh Murray has been Executive Architectural Conservation Officer at Cork City Council since 2022, advising on planning, historic buildings and development in historic areas. She manages conservation grant schemes and provides heritage advice on Local Authority projects, including protected structures and Architectural Conservation Areas. Previously, Ashleigh spent eight years with leading UK conservation practice Donald Insall Associates, advising on heritage-led development, primarily in Central London. Her clients included the Parliamentary Estate, Crown Estate, National Trust, OPW and Cadogan Estate. Ashleigh has been actively involved with the Irish Georgian Society for nearly 15 years, including as London Branch Chair and Trustee. She has also served on the IGS Architectural Conservation Planning and Conservation Grants Committees. She has been conservation accredited through full membership of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) since 2020.