Analysis

Oonagh Buckley profile: the outspoken civil servant who now will lead Environment at ‘critical’ moment

The former chair of the An Bord Pleanála ruffled feathers in her last role and has now been chosen to lead a crucial department

In April, Oonagh Buckley got a rousing introduction as she took to the stage at the Irish Planning Institute conference.

The newly appointed interim chairperson of An Bord Pleanála was called a “woman of steel” by Sarah Carey, the MC for the event, who reminisced about a conversation they once had.

“She was in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform before, that was during the bailout years, where she told me once that she ...