Biography:Sharon Donnery
Sharon Donnery | |
|---|---|
| ECB Representative to the Supervisory Board at the European Central Bank Previously Deputy Governor at Central Bank of Ireland | |
| In office 1 March 2016 – 31 December 2025 | |
| Governor | Philip R. Lane Gabriel Makhlouf |
| Preceded by | Stefan Gerlach |
| Succeeded by | Mary Elizabeth McMunn |
| Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland Acting | |
| In office 2 June 2019 – 31 August 2019 | |
| Taoiseach | Leo Varadkar |
| Preceded by | Philip R. Lane |
| Succeeded by | Gabriel Makhlouf |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sharon Martina Donnery 1 November 1972 |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
Sharon Donnery (born 1972) is an Irish economist and experienced central banker and financial regulator/supervisor. Since January 2025, she holds a senior position at the European Central Bank.[1][2] At the ECB, she is an ECB representative to the Supervisory Board - the main operational decision-making body for banking supervision. Her portfolio at the ECB includes international relations, geopolitical risk, stress testing and supervisory strategy/priorities.
She previously served as a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland from March 2016 to December 2024. She served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland on an acting basis from June 2019 to August 2019, having occupied increasingly senior positions in economics (including monetary policy and financial stability), consumer protection and regulatory roles since joining the body in 1996.[3] As of 1 July 2022, she was responsible for financial regulation in Ireland. The legislation underpinning the role of the Central Bank of Ireland sets out four statutory positions: Governor, Head of Central Banking, Head of Financial Regulation and Registrar of Credit Unions.[4] As of end 2025, Donnery has the distinction of being the only person to have held all four positions,[5] albeit that she occupied the Governor role on an acting basis.
Career
Educated at undergraduate (BA in Economics and Politics 1993) and postgraduate (MA in Economics 1994) level at University College Dublin, Donnery joined the Central Bank of Ireland in 1996, working initially in the Monetary Policy Division.[3][6] She was the first woman to be appointed as one of the Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Ireland.
In 2016, Donnery was appointed to the role of Deputy Governor (Central Banking), succeeding Stefan Gerlach. She was the first woman to be appointed to one of the Deputy Governor roles. In 2018, she was shortlisted as one of two contenders nominated by MEPs to head the ECB Supervisory Board, eventually losing out to Andrea Enria. On the departure of Philip R. Lane, she was appointed Acting Governor from June to August 2019, the first woman to lead the Central Bank, albeit on a temporary basis.[3] According to media reporting, Donnery was one of five shortlisted candidates for the post of Governor, with Gabriel Makhlouf ultimately appointed and taking up the role from 1 September 2019.
In 2020, she was appointed as an adjunct professor of economics at Trinity College Dublin[7] and was named as UCD Alumni Award winner for the social sciences.[8] Holder of a diploma from the Institute of Directors, Donnery was, in 2019, registered by that body as a Chartered Director.[6]
In 2022, it was announced that Donnery had been appointed Deputy Governor (Financial Regulation), responsible for leading the supervision of credit institutions, and the insurance sector, as well as policy and risk, and the prudential analytics and inspections directorates, with a team over 600. In this role she would also be a member of the ECB Supervisory Board, the body responsible for the ECB's supervisory tasks.[9]
References
- ↑ "Deputy Governor to take up senior ECB role | Central Bank of Ireland" (in en). https://www.centralbank.ie/news/article/press-release-deputy-governor-to-take-up-senior-ecb-role-05-may-2024.
- ↑ Bank, European Central (2024-06-05) (in en). ECB appoints three new Supervisory Board members. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2024/html/ecb.pr240605~8197943547.en.html.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Brennan, Joe (10 May 2019). "Sharon Donnery appointed acting Central Bank governor". The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/sharon-donnery-appointed-acting-central-bank-governor-1.3887662. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- ↑ "CENTRAL BANK ACT 1942". 3 July 2016. https://www.centralbank.ie/docs/librariesprovider2/default-document-library/ftr-1-5-en_act_1942_0022.pdf.
- ↑ "Our Senior Team - Bios | Central Bank of Ireland". https://www.centralbank.ie/about/who-we-are/our-senior-team-bios/bios#Sharon.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Our Senior Team - Bios | Central Bank of Ireland". https://www.centralbank.ie/about/who-we-are/our-senior-team-bios/bios#Sharon. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- ↑ "Tfinite College Dublin Honorary, Emeritus and Adjunct Professors". https://www.tcd.ie/Economics/people/honorary-emeritus-adjunct/.
- ↑ "Sharon Donnery awarded Alumni Award for Social Science". https://alumni.ucd.ie/awards/awardee/sharon-donnery/. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ↑ "Central Bank announces appointment of Sharon Donnery as Deputy Governor, Financial Regulation". https://www.centralbank.ie/news/article/press-release-central-bank-announces-appointment-of-sharon-donnery-as-deputy-governor-financial-regulation-30-may-2022.
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Philip R. Lane |
Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland (Acting) 2019 |
Succeeded by Gabriel Makhlouf |
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