The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the independent advertising self-regulatory body responsible for promoting, regulating and enforcing standards of marketing communications in Ireland, has appointed Ann Marie Lenihan, Clare Mulcahy, and Michael O’Keeffe to its board. Mulcahy and O’Keeffe bring an independent, non-industry perspectives that will enhance its mission to ‘foster trust in advertising for all’.
Lenihan is CEO of NewsBrands Ireland, the representative body for national news publishers. Since joining the organisation from Cullen Communications in 2016, she has led the successful lobbying for the abolition of VAT on print and digital newspapers, a change reflected in the 2023 Budget. More recently, she steered efforts that resulted in the publication of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill, which aims to reform defamation laws.
She is a member of the supervisory board of the World Association of News Publishers and vice-chair of its directors committee. She is also a director of News Media Europe, the voice of the news media industry in Europe, and serves on News Media Europe’s copyright and media freedom task forces. She is a UCD graduate of psychology and holds a diploma in counselling from Maynooth University.
Mulcahy is head of consumer affairs at the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and previously served as a member of the Advertising Standards Authority complaints committee. She worked with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, where she managed compliance for water, electricity and gas markets. She was in retail regulatory operations in telecommunications. She holds a law degree from TCD, a master’s in international business from UCD and an MBA from TCD.
O’Keeffe is a former chief executive of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), having worked in this role for the BAI and its predecessors between 1991 and 2021. While in the role, he served as a member of the ASA complaints committee. He worked with Coimisiún na Meán (formerly the BAI) in a consultancy role to June 2024. He has chaired interviews with the Public Appointments Service (PAS) and the Houses of the Oireachtas.
