SSI is pleased to announce the appointment of the following five new Directors to its Board: Matthew Dossett (Trinity College Dublin), Suzanne Bailey (University College Dublin), Donal McNally (IT Carlow), Yvonne McGowan (Dublin City University) and John Windle (Waterford IT).

The Directors were unanimously ratified by the SSI members at the recent company AGM and are pictured above attending their Board induction meeting at Sport HQ.

The full SSI Board and roles can be viewed here: SSI Board

New Directors Profile

Suzanne Bailey

With over 24 years experience in third level sport, Suzanne is currently the Sports Development Manager in University College Dublin (UCD). She is responsible for initiating and progressing the development of sport at UCD in terms of participation, facility provision and sports funding, the management, administration and governance of the UCD Athletic Union Council, the governing body of sports clubs in the University and also manages the UCD Sports Scholarship Programme.

Suzanne holds an Advanced Diploma in Marketing Techniques from D.I.T., a BSc. Management Degree from Dublin University and is a graduate of the UCD Smurfit School of Business Marketing Development Programme. She has recently completed a Masters in Leadership and Management Practice in the UCD Smurfit School of Business.

Matthew Dossett 

Matthew took up the role of Deputy Head of Sport & Recreation at Trinity College Dublin in 2016 and was previously Sports Development Manager at the University of Sunderland in the UK where he had spent over 10 years supporting the growth of student sport and its infrastructure.

His role in Trinity includes the management of the strategy for sport, direct oversight for the areas of sports development, operations and projects, media and marketing, and supporting future planning.  

Matthew received an MSc in Sports Management from the University of Northumbria, Newcastle, and a BSc in Sport Science from the University of Sunderland, UK. A former competitive alpine and dry slope skier, he has been qualified as an instructor and coach since 1998, holding positions in Aosta Valley (Italy), Kent (UK), and Tyne & Wear (UK).

Yvonne McGowan

Yvonne is the Senior Sports Development Officer at Dublin City University’s Sports & Wellbeing Dept. Her role includes the strategic and operational development of student sport and focuses on managing and developing four areas – physical activity participation programmes, sports clubs, sport scholarships and developing student leaders.

Yvonne has over 24 years’ experience working in sports facility management and sports development in both the UK and Ireland, of which 20 years have been in the University sector. In 2016-2017 Yvonne was seconded to lead a project to establish DCU as a Health Promoting University, which lead to the development of the ‘DCU Healthy’ initiative as a priority area in the DCU strategic plan.

Yvonne holds a BA in Psychology and Economics from University College Dublin and a Masters in Leisure Management from the University of Sheffield. Yvonne has been involved in Student Sport Ireland for 15 years and has served as an SSI Board Member, Chair of the Training & Development Committee, a member of the Network Event and Strategy Working Groups and she is currently a member of the Physical Activity & Wellbeing committee.

Donal McNally

Donal is Director of Sport at the Institute of Technology Carlow. Prior to this, Donal lectured on GAA Coach Education and Club https://dev.mediahelm.ie/SSI/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/strategic-plan.jpgistration also at IT Carlow.

A GAA Master Tutor, Donal worked on the Strategic Planning Committee which helped to deliver the Student Sport Ireland Strategic Plan 2017-2020. Donal is also currently a member of the Student Sport Ireland, Sports Clubs and Competitions Committee.

In his role as Director of Sport, Donal is dedicated to enhancing the experience of student learners, staff and the wider community by providing physical activity opportunities and promoting health and well-being, through engagement in Sport at Performance, Competition, Recreation and Community level.

John Windle

John Windle is Senior Manager at WIT Novus which has over 150 employees with responsibility in the management of the following divisions of WIT Novus – WIT Head of Sport, General Manager of the WIT Arena and Manager of WIT International Business since 2016. The diverse roles give John a wide range of knowledge in Finance, Governance, Human Relations and Health and Safety and Child Protection.

John comes from a commercial leisure background working in the Fitness and Sports Industry for over 16 years. From his experience in coaching swimming and athletics as well as being responsible for large group activities for children John has extensive knowledge in child protection. John has completed his Safeguarding Level 1 and 3 as well as his TULSA Children’s First E-Learning Programme course.

John is a former student of IT Tralee where he competed in Athletics and Rugby and where he learned the values of college sport.