Former President of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), Averil Power, has been appointed chief executive of the Irish Cancer Society. The appointment comes after her position as chief executive of the Asthma Society of Ireland in August 2016. Power was unsuccessful in gaining a Dáil seat for Dublin Bay North in last year’s general election.
Power has a degree in Business, Economics and Social Science (BESS) from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and was elected as President of the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) in 2001.
Power will succeed current chief executive of the Society, John McCormack after he announced his intention to resign in December of this year. The charity has said that Power was chosen as his successor having been successful through the hiring process overseen by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).
The charity has played an major role in the development of the government’s National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026, which was published earlier this year.
Since completing her role at TCDSU in 2002, Power has been in involved in many campaigns in Trinity. She spoke at a leadership campaign in Trinity in 2014 to address the under-representation of women in leadership roles within college, where Power highlighted the value of student leadership.
In 2015, she spoke at an event hosted by Trinity Politics Society. At the event, she said that there needs to be “a huge civil society movement” to push for a referendum on abortion in Ireland.
