Ciarán Devane


Sir Ciarán Gearoid Devane is the Chief Executive of the British Council.

Education

Devane was educated at University College Dublin where he read for a BEng in biochemical engineering. He also holds a master's degree in International Policy and Practice from the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.

Career

Devane worked as chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support from 2007 to 2014. He was appointed chief executive of the British Council in January 2015. As of 2015, Devane was paid a salary of between £185,000 and £189,999 by the Foreign Office, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. He also serves as a non-executive director of NHS England.
Devane was knighted in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to cancer patients.
Devane was announced as the first Chairperson of the new Board of the Irish health service, the Health Service Executive by Minister for Health, Simon Harris on 18 September 2018.